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MODERN    ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL    PRACTICE  * 


BY 

GEORGE    E.   FREELAND 

SUPERVISOR    OF    PRACTICE    TEACHING    AND    ASSISTANT    PROFESSOR 

OF  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WASHINGTON,  SEATTLE 

FORMERLY    PRINCIPAL    OF    THE    TRAINING    SCHOOL 

STATE  TEACHERS  COLLEGE,  GREELEY,  COLO. 


fork 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1919 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1919, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  June,  1919. 


/ 


Norfoooti 

J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


tto 

NORMAN   TRIPLETT 


PREFACE 

IN  the  following  pages  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
present  to  the  common  school  teacher  and  the  student  of 
education  the  vital  elements  of  modern  practice  in  the 
elementary  school,  illustrated  in  such  a  way  as  to  stimu- 
late further  use  of  the  methods  described.  Theoretical 
ideals  have  been  adapted  to  ordinary  school  work.  Noth- 
ing has  been  advocated  here  which  has  not  already  had 
successful  application  and  thorough  trial.  Every  illus- 
tration is  taken  from  classroom  practice. 

Emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  topics  which  the  aver- 
age teacher  needs  to  consider.  Experience  in  supervising 
several  thousand  teachers  in  three  different  states  has 
been  the  basis  for  conclusions  as  to  what  topics  teachers 
need  most  to  know  about  and  to  have  illustrated. 

Educational  theory  developed  in  leading  American 
universities  has  been  made  use  of.  Originality  is  claimed 
only  for  the  selection  of  topics  and  for  the  illustrations. 
The  many  teachers  and  supervisors  with  whom  I  have 
worked  should  by  all  means  be  mentioned  as  a  chief 
source  of  information  and  inspiration. 

Recognition  for  materials  taken  from  other  books  or 
magazine  articles  has  been  given  throughout  the  book. 

GEORGE  E.  FKEELAND. 
UNIVERSITY  OF  WASHINGTON, 
SEATTLE,  WASHINGTON. 

vii 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I  THE  APPLICATION  OF  EDUCATIONAL  THEORY  . 

II  THE  PROBLEM  METHOD 

III  THE  PROJECT 

IV  MOTIVES 

/*    V  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  INTEREST  IN  PRACTICE 

^   VI  A  SCHOOL  SUBJECT  TAUGHT  THROUGH  INTERESTS  . 

VII  UTILIZING  A  COMMON  INTEREST       .... 

VIII  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NATURAL  INTEREST 

IX  THE  SELECTION  AND  EMPHASIS  OF  SUBJECT  MATTER 

X  SELECTION  AND  EVALUATION  IN  ENGLISH 

XI  SELECTION  IN  ARITHMETIC,  SPELLING,  AN|>  WRITING 

XII  METHODS  WHICH  FOSTER  HEALTH  .... 

XIII  LESS  SEDENTARY  PRACTICES  AND  METHODS    . 

XIV  THE  INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE    .... 
XV  METHODS  OF  ADJUSTING  SCHOOL  WORK  TO  INDIVID- 
UAL NEEDS 

XVI  THE  SOCIALIZATION  OF  INSTRUCTION 


313-340 

341-367 
368-404 


IX 


EDITOR'S   INTRODUCTION 

AMERICAN  education  has  entered  the  experimental 
period.  Already  various  problems  pertaining  to  the  con- 
struction of  curricula  and  to  methods  of  organizing 
schools  and  teaching  the  various  branches  of  instruction 
have  been  subjected  to  critical  examination  according  to 
scientific  procedure.  A  considerable  body  of  accurate 
data  bearing  upon  the  values  of  studies  and  economy 
and  efficiency  in  educational  practice  has  been  secured. 
But  what  we  have  achieved  thus  far  has  served  mainly 
to  increase  our  interest  in  the  experimental  investigation 
of  every  phase  of  our  educational  work.  Leaders  of  edu- 
cational thought  are  becoming  convinced  that  the  system 
of  education  developed  by  our  forefathers,  while  perhaps 
well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  their  times,  is  not  equally 
well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  our  own  time.  But  tradi- 
tional education  still  has  many  active  and  vigorous  ad- 
herents ;  there  are  those  among  us  who  maintain  that  the 
educational  policies  which  we  of  to-day  have  inherited 
from  our  predecessors  are  the  product  of  many  centuries 
of  trial  and  testing  and  we  should  be  exceedingly  slow  to 
make  modifications  either  in  the  subjects  taught  or  in 
the  manner  of  presenting  them  to  pupils.  The  problems 
involved  have  become  so  subtle  and  complex  that  they 
cannot  be  disposed  of  by  mere  expression  of  opinion,  and 

xi 


Xll  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

this  is  the  chief  reason  why  there  is  a  constantly  deep- 
ening belief  that  we  must  assume  the  attitude  of  the 
unprejudiced  investigator  toward  every  vital  question 
that  is  in  dispute. 

In  the  experimental  study  of  educational  problems 
American  investigators  are  following  two  plans  which 
are  complementary.  In  the  first  place,  complex  situations 
are  resolved  into  their  component  elements,  and  the 
various  factors  are  each  subjected  to  experimental  treat- 
ment under  controlled  conditions  so  that  the  student  can 
observe  and  record  the  behavior  of  the  phenomena  he  is 
studying.  It  is  hoped  that  in  due  course  every  perplexing 
problem  in  education  may  thus  be  broken  up  into  its  fac- 
tors and  each  brought  under  careful  scrutiny  so  that  its 
traits,  force,  and  value  may  be  determined.  But  parallel 
with  this  microscopic  study  of  problems  must  run  ma- 
croscopic investigation,  —  the  investigation  according  to 
scientific  method  of  the  educational  process  as  a  whole. 
Investigators  who  are  capable  of  such  work  must  be  con- 
stantly incorporating  into  a  school  as  a  unitary,  living 
organism  the  results  of  the  study  of  particular  problems. 
It  would  not  do  to  continue  our  schools  according  to  the 
traditional  program  until  investigators  had  studied  every 
detail  of  the  curriculum  and  methods  of  teaching  and  of 
organization  of  school  systems,  and  then  attempt  to  con- 
struct de  novo  a  school  based  on  the  principles  developed 
by  this  experimental  investigation.  These  principles 
should  be  tested  and  embodied  in  school  practice  as  fast 
as  they  are  established  by  scientific  inquiry.  This  is  the 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION  xiii 

only  effective  way  to  determine  whether  the  modifica- 
tions in  educational  procedure  suggested  by  experimental 
study  are  feasible  and  whether  they  work  out  well  in 
practice  under  the  usual  conditions  environing  American 
schools. 

The  present  volume  comes  under  the  macroscopic  type 
of  educational  investigation.  For  many  years  Professor 
Freeland  has  served  as  superintendent  and  supervisor  of 
schools  and  has  had  the  direction  of  an  elementary  school 
connected  with  a  college  for  the  training  of  teachers. 
This  school  has  been  conducted  in  an  experimental  at- 
mosphere. Professor  Freeland  has  kept  in  close  touch 
with  educational  research  throughout  the  world  and  he 
has  been  given  freedom  to  test  in  his  demonstration 
schools  all  new  and  apparently  sound  conceptions  of  edu- 
cational values  and  methods.  This  has  given  him  an 
opportunity  to  determine  what  modifications  in  our  tra- 
ditional practice  are  desirable  and  practicable  at  the 
present  time.  In  the  following  pages  he  has  presented 
his  conclusions  regarding  these  matters  together  with  the 
data  and  arguments  upon  which  they  are  based. 

This  volume  appears  at  a  critical  moment  in  the  his-^ 
tory  of  the  world.  Our  habits  of  life  are  being  profoundly 
modified  by  the  war,  and  when  peace  comes  again  on  earth 
we  will  be  under  the  necessity  of  developing  economical 
methods  in  all  our  activities.  It  is  keenly  felt,  not  only 
in  America,  but  also  in  Canada,  England,  France,  Italy 
and  probably  in  Germany,  that  we  must  speed  up  edu- 
cationally ;  and  particularly  we  must  avoid  waste  in  all 


xiv  EDITOR'S    INTRODUCTION 

school  work.  We  must  strive  to  make  every  hour  of 
a  pupil's  time  count  effectively  toward  preparing  him  for 
the  needs  of  life.  We  must  eliminate  topics  which  have 
been  taught  heretofore  but  which  will  not  be  of  as  much 
consequence  in  the  future  as  other  subjects  which  have 
not  yet  found  a  secure  place  in  the  course  of  study.  We 
must  investigate  ways  and  means  of  teaching  every  topic 
in  order  to  make  it  seem  worth  while  to  pupils  and  so  that 
when  they  master  it  they  can  utilize  it  in  solving  one  or 
another  of  the  social,  intellectual,  esthetic,  or  industrial 
problems  of  daily  life.  /So  far  as  it  can  be  done,  we  must 
arrange  the  work  of  the  schoolroom  in  every  detail  so 
that  pupils  will  like  and  not  detest  their  tasks.  Profes- 
sor Freeland  treats  all  these  matters  in  the  spirit  and 
according  to  the  method  of  the  unprejudiced  searcher 
after  truth.  He  gives  the  results  not  only  of  the  investi^ 
gations  conducted  in  his  own  schools,  but  he  compares 
the  conclusions  he  has  reached  with  those  attained  by 
other  investigators.  So  the  parent,  teacher  or  layman 
who  reads  this  volume  will  gain  a  clear  view  of  the  most 
reliable  thought  of  the  times  concerning  the  studies  which 
should  be  taught  in  our  elementary  schools  and  the  most 
effective  way  to  present  them.  He  will  also  see  how  a 
school  should  be  organized  and  conducted  so  as  to  de- 
velop the  social  impulses  of  pupils  in  order  that  they 
may  cooperate  with  one  another  and  live  together  in 
peace  and  harmony. 

M.    V.    O'SHEA. 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN, 
August,  1918. 


MODERN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  PRACTICE 


MODERN  ELEMENTARY 
|  SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  EDUCATIONAL  THEORY 

Theory  versus  Experience 

The  Practical  View.  There  should  be  no  gap  between 
good  educational  theory  and  successful  experience. 
Theory  which  cannot  be  applied  is  useless.TEven  though^ 
it  point  to  necessary  reforms  and  contain  the  accumulated 
wisdom  of  a  century,  theory  must  lie  dormant  until  it 
falls  into  the  hands  of  someone  who  can  apply  it  or  illus- 
trate it  in  such  a  way  that  others  can  use  it.  /On  the  other 
hand,  experience  without  theory  is  blind."  Ateacher  may 
succeed  in  a  way  through  pure  intuition,  but  not  for  very 
[long,  and  he  is  always  liable  to  the  grossest  of  errors.  In 
I  order  to  achieve  the  highest  success  it  is  essential  that  a 
'proper  combination  between  theory  and  experience  be 
made.  The  following  cases  are  illustrative  of  a  situa- 
tion which  the  modern  educational  world  is  striving  to 
overcome : 

Illustrations  of  inadequacy  from  the  side  of  theory : 
A  large  number  of  books  have  been  written  upon  educational 
subjects.     Many  of  them  are  useless  because  the  authors  have 

B  1 


k  e 


;  SCHOOL  PRACTICE 


not  taken  into  consideration  the  actual  school  conditions  under 
which  their  theories  must  be  applied.  Some  are  too  critical 
and  may  be  classed  as  entirely  destructive.  Some  are  too 
general  and  make  no  concrete  applications.  Others  contain 
theory  which  would  injure  any  school  that  tried  to  apply  it. 

Many  so-called  "  educators"  appear  to  show  a  disdain  for 
the  practical  work  of  the  teacher.  They  teach  their  theory 
as  a  subject  entirely  apart  from  actual  experience.  The  re- 
sults they  aim  at  are  such  as  "the  understanding  of  educa- 
tional terms,  the  acquisition  of  the  author's  viewpoint,  the 
ability  to  quote  authors,  give  definitions,  etc."  Such  training 
in  theory  will,  of  course,  be  of  little  practical  help. 

Illustrations  of  experience  which  needs  a  basis  in  theory  : 

There  was,  a  few  years  ago,  a  man  in  the  middle  west  who 
was  head  of  a  department  of  rural  schools  in  a  normal  school. 
His  attitude  toward  all  educational  theory  was  one  of  suspicion. 
He  considered  that  everything  in  the  preparation  of  a  teacher 
was  subordinate  to  experience,  regardless  of  the  conditions 
under  which  experience  occurred.  He  lacked  ideals  and 
principles  as  well  as  the  scientific  viewpoint.  He  was  a  good 
illustration  of  a  large  body  of  teachers  who  are  overbalanced 
on  the  side  of  experience. 

A  teacher  in  a  large  city  is  fairly  successful  because  of  her 
intuition  and  personality.  She  insists  that  educational  theory 
cannot  be  applied.  She  has  discovered  ways  of  doing  things 
which  are  "all  her  own."  From  experience  she  has  found 
that  they  succeed.  However,  her  disregard  for  educational 
theory  and  scientific  experiments  has  caused  her  to  commit  j 
many  blunders.  Her  results  are  those  that  were  desired  a  \ 
decade  ago,  but  they  are  out  of  harmony  with  modern  tend- 
encies. Her  selection  of  subject  matter  is  poor.  She  blunders 
in  the  direction  of  stressing  the  course  of  study  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  health  of  the  children  ;  she  does  not  recognize 
knowledge  aside  from  the  requirements  for  her  room;  she 


THE   APPLICATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   THEORY       3 

knows  nothing  of  socialization.     The  mistakes  to  which  she 
is  liable  could  be  continued  through  several  pages. 

All  of  these  illustrations  are  typical.  They  represent 
attitudes  that  are  prevalent.  Before  we  can  help  our 
schools  very  much  we  must  have  harmony  between  those 
who  stand  for  theory  and  those  who  represent  experience. 
Neither  attitude,  taken  alone,  is  practical. 

The  Significance  of  the  Term  "  Practice."  Practice  has 
come  to  have  large  significance  in  the  professions  of 
medicine  and  of  law.  It  means  theory  which  has  b'een 
discovered  and  tried  in  successful  experience.  It  is  the 
aim  of  this  book,  as"  expressed  in  the  title,  to  utilize  the 
word  "practice,"  with  all  it  signifies,  in  a  discussion  of 
education.  Experience  alone  cannot  satisfy  the  demands 
of  modern  practice,  and  only  theory  which  has  been  suc- 
cessfully applied  can  be  called  practice. 

The  Modern  Tendency  to  Study  Practice.  During 
the  last  decade  the  tendency  to  study  schools  and  to  try 
theories  under  actual  school  conditions  has  been  growing 
rapidly.  A  great  deal  of  our  modern  theory  has  been 
formulated  in  the  schoolroom.  The  successful  teacher 
and  the  superintendent  of  to-day  look  upon  the  school 
not  only  as  a  workshop  in  which  certain  educational  re- 
sults are  to  be  achieved,  but  also  as  a  place  where  new 
ideas  may  be  evolved_and  discoveries  made.  This  has 
elevated  the  work  of  the  teacher,  for,  with  this  viewpoint, 
hp  is  no  longer  merely  a  workman  with  a  daily  routine; 
so  an  explorer  and  a  discoverer, 
modern  training  schools  in  universities,  teachers' 


4  MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

colleges,  and  normal  schools  have  been  working  to  develop 
practice.  Usually  it  is  found  that  the  student  who  has 
finished  his  courses  in  the  subjects  he  is  to  teach  and  has 
taken  all  his  educational  theory  cannot  apply  in  the  class- 
room what  he  has  learned.  The  training  school  provides 
the  opportunity  to  practice  under  sound  supervision.  A 
desire  to  realize  all  that  is  best  in  theory  is  usually  a  dom- 
inant motive  here.  When  the  student  has  been  properly 
exposed  to  modern  practice  in  such  a  school,  his  expe- 
rience has  been  worth  more  to  him  than  several  years  at 
trial  and  error  would  be. 

The  many  recent  surveys  of  schools  and  school  sys- 
tems are  another  proof  of  the  tendency  to  study  practice. 
These  surveys  are  valuable  both  for  the  suggestions  of 
the  surveyors  and  for  the  descriptions  of  the  practices 
which  were  found  most  successful.  McMurry's  "  Ele- 
mentary School  Standards/' 1  for  example,  is  a  most  val- 
uable book  because  in  it  are  incorporated  descriptions, 
of  actual  classroom  practice  with  suggestions  and  illus- 
trations of  ways  to  improve  it. 

This  Is  a  Period  of  Realization.  We  are  now  living  in 
a  period  of  realization.  During  the  next  decade  the 
ordinary  common  school  is  going  to  participate  in  the 
fruits  of  the  works  of  such  educational  leaders  as  Dewey, 
Hall,  Judd,  Cubberley,  and  others.  There  is  a  great  call 
from  teachers  and  administrators  for  concrete  illustra- 
tions of  practice  which  embodies  the  philosophy  of  great 
educational  leaders  and  is  in  accord  with  scientific  results, 
i  World  Book  Co. 


THE  APPLICATION   OF  EDUCATIONAL  THEORY       5 

Many  schools  and  school  systems  have  already  been  able 
to  put  into  practice  ideals  and  theories  that  are  bound  to 
revolutionize  the  work  of  the  regular  common  school. 
Such  schools  as  the  Francis  Parker,  the  Horace  Mann, 
and  the  schools  of  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Seattle,  and 
many  other  large  cities  are  doing  work  that  should  be  re- 
ported in  order  that  it  may  be  known  by  teachers  every- 
where. Teachers  often  declare  theories  to  be  impractical 
when  they  have  already  been  practiced  with  success  in  both 
private  and  public  schools.  It  is  to  acquaint  the  teacher 
and  the  student  of  education  with  such  practice  that  this 
book  has  been  written. 

'B-        The  Trend  of  Modern  Practice 

Advancement  Has  Been  Along  Four  Lines.    The  modern 
school  is  developing  its  practice  along  four  special  lines  : 

1.  The    development    of    a    new    methodology'  which 
works  through  the  use  of  problems,  projects,   motives, 
and  interests. 

2.  The  selection  of  subject  matter  that  is  worthy  of 
the  time  and  the  efforts  of  pupils. 

3.  Teaching  in  a  way  that  will  conserve  rather  than 
injure  the  health  of  children. 

4.  The    realization    of    an    individual-social    balance 
which  will  adjust  itself  to  the  needs  of  individuals  and 
at  the  same  time  employ  the  social  motive  and  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  community. 

ice  in  chese  four  fields  will  be  described  in  detail 
trp-ced  concretely  in  the  chapters  which  follow. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PROBLEM   METHOD 

The  Relation  of  the  Problem  to  Other  Phases  of  Method 

OUR  chief  concern  is  not  for  school  subjects  in  these 
days  of  progress ;  it  is  for  children.  There  was  a  time 
when  children  were  not  considered,  and  the  teacher 
taught  arithmetic,  grammar,  or  spelling.  To-day  these 
subjects  are  taught  better  than  ever  before  because  they 
are  seen  in  their  true  values,  —  as  so  many  different  means 
of  developing  boys  and  girls.  No  teacher  has  the  modern 
viewpoint  unless  he  regards  his  problem  as  one  of  properly 
v^lneeting  and  dealing  with  human  beings  rather  than  one 
of  subject  matter.  He  does  not  ignore  the  latter,  but  he 
makes  it  secondary  to  the  former. 

Four  special  means  have  been  developed  in  achieving 
the  aim  stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph  :  the  problem, 
the  project,  motive,  and  interest.  The  common  points 
and  peculiarities  of  these  should  be  understood  in  order 
to  use  any  or  all  of  them  properly. 

The  Problem.     The  problem  is  used  to  appeal  to  and 

.develop  the  child's  thought.1     It  is  more  important  that 

a  child  learn  to  think  than  that  he  memorize  subject  mat- 

1  Thinking  is  used  here  to  designate  some  form  of  organization,  evalua- 
tion, and  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  child.  Concrete  illustrations  are 
given  in  the  pages  which  follow. 

6 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  11 

in  civics,  comparisons ._o|_£laces  in  geography,  and  the 
values  to  himself  and  others  of  everything  about  him 
should  be  made  a  basic  feature  of  the  child's  instruction. 
This  ability  to  compare,  evaluate,  understand,  and  con- 
clude is  the  larger  mental  power  of  which  memory  is 
only  an  important  part. 

1  Results  of  Mechanical  Method  Compared  with  Those 
of  Thought  Method.  The  results  of  the  thought  method 
become  evident  whenever  there  is  opportunity  to  com- 
pare children  who  are  thus  trained  with  others  who  have 
been  unfortunate  enough  to  be  trained  in  a  school  which 
employs  the  old  mechanical  method  exclusively.  At 
a  recent  summer  session  opportunity  for  such  com- 
parison was  afforded  by  the  heterogeneous  enrollment  of 
children  from  several  schools.  The  backward,  depend- 
ent attitude  of  some  and  the  thoughtful,  aggressive 
initiative  of  others  were  in  such  contrast,  both  in  the 
schoolroom  and  on  the  playground,  that  we  decided  to 
look  for  the  cause.  With  but  few  exceptions  it  was 
found  that  these  traits  had  been  developed  by  the  methods 
used  in  their  respective  schools. 

Some  of  the  children  seemed  to  depend  so  much  upon 
adult  guidance  that  they  were  hardly  able  to  get  into  the 
school  building  without  first  being  formed  into  lines,  and 
when  reciting  they  were  dependent  upon  the  teacher's 
constant  leadership.  They  had  no  specific  wants,,  pur- 
poses, or  desires  of  their  own  that  were  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  the  work  of  the  school.  A  usual  complaint, 
when  asked  a  question  which  it  took  some  thought  to 


12         MODERN   ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

answer,  was,  "  I  do  not  understand  what  you  want/' 
and  a  common  question,  after  a  feeble  attempt,  was,  "  Is 
that  what  you  want?  "  The  wants  of  the  teacher  were 

^their  only  incentive,  and  to  satisfy  them  was  the  sole  aim 
in  reciting.  They  could  do  very  well  outside  the  realm  of 
independent  thinking.  Rules  of  grammar  (exact  book 
definitions),  the  multiplication  tables,  and  spelling  in 
vertical  columns  had  been  their  chief  mental  diet,  and 
all  such  work  they  did  exceptionally  well.  When  it 

^ame  to  applying  these  mechanics,  however,  they  were 
lacking. 

Dangers  of  Superficial  Thought  Methods  and  of  Over- 
rationalization  Admitted.  When  one  speaks  of  teaching 
children  to  think  many  practical  teachers  are  likely  to 
suspect  him  of  advocating  a  regime  in  which  immature 
minds,  without  proper  training,  are  allowed  to  grapple 
with  problems  and  questions  that  are  beyond  them,  and 
in  which  the  necessary  grounding  in  the  mechanics  of  the 
common  branches  is  ignored ;  the  result  being  a  product 
which  is  fairly  glib  at  discussing  in  a  shallow  way  most  of 
the  great  issues  of  the  day,  but  is  inefficient,  unstable, 
and  incapable  in  every  line  of  endeavor.  Some  over- 
enthusiastic  believers  in  rationalization,  it  is  admitted, 
have  stood  for  a  program  that  would  bring  about  such 
results,  but  the  school  that  properly  employs  the  thought 
method  is  successful  from  the  mechanical  side  as  well. 
.There  is  a  difference,  however,  between  the  mechanics 
and  the  fundamentals  in  the  modern  school  and  those  in 
the  school  of  our  fathers  or  in  schools  which  still  cling 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  13 

to  traditional  methods  and  subject  matter.  This  differ- 
ence is  found  in  the  care  that  is  used  in  determining  the  Y 
relative  importance  of  different  mechanical  facts.  The 
modern  interpretation  is  that  many  of  these  facts  are 
not  fundamental  to  any  useful  accomplishment ;  form- 
erly everything"  that  fell  under  the  heading  of  grammar, 
arithmetic,  spelling,  or  history,  was  taught  regardless  of 
its  use. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  some  schools  to  over-rationalizev 
the  mechanics  of  arithmetic,  for  example.     The  effort  to 
develop  addition,  subtraction,  division,   and  multiplica- 
tion   through    reasoning    often    approaches    a    condition 
which  has  fittingly  been  described  as  "  painful."     There 
should  be  some  thought  work  to  establish  in  the   child's  ' 
mind  the  basic  arithmetical  concepts.     But  for  the  most 
part  these  concepts  will  not  be  fully  formed  until  he  has 
become  a  man.     There  is  no  reason  for  assuming  that  h'e  \ 

./ 


Lould  fully  understand  everything  that  is  taught  him 
All  of  us  make  use  of  laws  and  principles  every  day  about 
which  we  know  very  little. 

We  must  properly  evaluate  thought,  else  our  methods 
will  become  as  bad  from  the  thought  side  as  were  those  of 
the  old  school  from  the  mechanical  side.  It  is  best  in 
many  activities  not  to  stop  to  think.  Rather  than  to 
attempt  to  explain  at  every  step,  the  modern  way  is  to 
connect  that  which  is  purely  mechanical  with  some 
problem  or  .interest  of  the  learner .{^JThe  drill  thus  be- 
comes a  means  to  an  end  and  is  used  to  supplement 
child's  thought. 


14         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

fSS  Characteristics  of  the  Problem 

l^  Establishes  Habits  of  Independence.  The  problem 
should  be  used  to  exercise  initiative,  power  of  organiza- 
tion, and  independent  thinking.  It  teaches  the  pupil 
to  use  his  own  intellect  in  arriving  at  conclusions ;  the 
books  he  has  read,  the  words  of  the  teacher,  and  his  ex- 
perience being  nothing  more  than  valuable  aids.  School 
problems  and  those  met  with  in  life  should  be  united  as 
iriuch  as  possible,  so  that  the  child  will  carry  his  think- 
ing attitude  out  into  the  world  with  him. 

.Children  Ask  Intelligent  Questions.  One  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  problem  lesson  is  the  intelligent  questions 
of  the  children.  In  the  old  school  the  teacher  asked  all 
the  questions,  and  a  recitation  was  used  to  discover  how 
well  the  child  had  mastered  the  subject  matter  of  the  text- 
book. To-day  the  children  are  doing  a  great  deal  of  the 
questioning  and  the  teacher  must  be  well  prepared  in  order 
to  help  and  direct  them.  When  this  type  of  lesson  is 
properly  conducted,  the  teacher's  knowledge  is  taxed  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  it  is  when  he  does  all  the 
questioning  arxd  holds  the  discussion  closely  within  the 
limits  of  a  few  pages  in  a  text. 

Teacher  in  Background.  Another  significant  change 
which  this  methodshas  brought  about  is  noted  in  the  rise 
/-in  prominence  of  the  part  played  by  the  class  as  com- 
pared with  that  played  by  the  teacher.  He  is  no  longer 
the  center,  but  keeps  in  the  background  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. The  children  are  made  to  feel  that  they  are  doing 
the  work  and  that  they  are  responsible  for  its  success. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  15 

The  child  is  taught  that  his  recitation  must  be  satisfac- 
tory to  himself  and  his  fellows  as  well  as  to  his  teacher. 
School  work  conducted  after  this  plan  is  bound  to  re- 
sult in  more  independence  on  the  part  of  the  children. 
Rational  Memory  Developed.     The  problem  method  ^ 

/does  not  neglect  memory  but  uses  it  to  some  definite  pur-*/" 
pose.  In  addition  to  recognizing  fully  the  value  of 
mechanical  memory  it  exercises  and  develops  the  rational 
memory.  Thus,  while  textbook  definitions  are  not  to 
be  memorized,  the  child  is  required  to  understand  these 
definitions  and  give  them  in  his  own  words.  Following 
this  he  is  given  constant  opportunity  to  apply  them. 
The  ability  to  relate  and  group  facts,  to  remember  them 
because  they  are  connected  with  something  of  importance 
to  him,  is  the  problem's  contribution  to  the  child's  mem- 
ory training.  After  considerable  training  of  this  nature, 
he  is  able  to  read  and  remember  the  contents  of  entire 
books. 

^  Longer  Individual  Recitations.  The  use  of  the  problem  r 
furnishes  opportunity  for  longer  individual  recitations. 
When  the  attention  must  be  focused  for  the  organiza- 
tion, of  a  recitation  to  last  several  minutes,  all  the  mental 
powers  employed  receive  their  full  share  of  exercise. 
The  results  of  class  work  in  which  the  children  merely 
answer  the  questions  of  the  teacher,  often  by  one  word, 
and  rarely  by  more  than  a  sentence,  cannot  be  very  ex- 
tensive or  lasting.  Opportunity  must  be  given  each  child 
to  formulate  and  give  a  good  long  recitation  as  often  as 
the  time  and  the  needs  of  the  class  will  permit. 


16         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

The  Problem  Assignment 

One  of  the  most  common  uses  of  the  problem  is  its 
use  in  the  assignment  of  lessons.  ^It  establishes  some- 
thing specific  for  the  child  to  think  about  and  gives  him 
*  exercise  in  selecting  the  materials  which  will  best  serve 
the  ends  in  view.  A  commonly  used  mechanical  method 
of  assigning  a  lesson  in  geography  is  as  follows  : 

"Read  from  pages  12  to  17  in  your 'texts  and  be  ready  to 
report  on  what  you  find  there." 

/  But  the  problem  assignment  makes  an  appeal  to  the  child 
/    from  the  standpoint  of  something  definite  that  is  worth 
^attending  to  and  about  which  he  may  gain  information 
by  reading  his  text. 

The  following  problem,  for  example,  was  one  given  a 
sixth-grade  class  in  geography  : 

To-day  we  have  been  studying  the  location  of  Kansas  as  a 
representative  of  the  central  states  in  relation  to  Washington 
as  a  representative  of  the  Pacific  states.  (Washington  being 
the  home  state,  it  and  the  Pacific  group  were  studied  first  and 
made  the  basis  of  all  comparisons.) 

To-morrow  we  shall  discuss  industrial  relations  and  trade 
between  these  two  sections. 

Consider  the  following  suggestions  in  your  work : 

1.  Compare  the  products  and  discover,  if  you  can,  why 
both  sections  grow  some  crops  that  are  the  same,  while  some 
things  are  grown  in  one  section  .that  are  not  grown  in  the 
other. 

2.  Note  trade;  rela  tions  which  might  come  from  outside 
connections.    As  an  illustration  take  Washington's  connections 
with  the  Oi(*nt. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  17 

3.  Study  the  railroad  routes,   the  difficulties  of  trans- 
portation, freight  rates  (friese  may  be  obtained  by  the  teacher, 
or  even  better  by  a  member  of  the  class  from  the  local  freight 
agent),  and  think  of  the  possibilities  of  profit  and  loss  from 
shipments  both  ways.     Might  it  not  be  better  to  pay  more 
for  some  of  the  products  usually  obtained  from  Kansas  and 
buy  nearer  home  ? 

4.  Look  into  the  manufacturing  industries  of  each  sec- 
tion, and  see  if  you  can  find  any  value  in  trading  with  Kansas 
from  this  standpoint. 

Please  continue  this  problem  along  other  lines  than 
those  suggested.  You  will  find  material  in  your  text  on  pages 
17-21,  96-104,  and  208-210.  I  have  on  my  desk  several 
books  which  will  furnish  further  information.  Anyone  who 
finds  time  is  welcome  to  use  them.  You  may  also  find  valu- 
able material  in  magazines  or  newspapers.  In  our  geography 
collection  you  will  find  : 

1.  A  number  of  post  cards  on  which  are  descriptions  of 
some  Kansas  cities  and  industries. 

2.  Samples  of  products  from  Kansas. 

3.  A  catalogue  of  railroad  and  steamship  folders. 

In  addition  to  these  sources  of  information  you  may 
be  able  to  finol  some  one  who  has  been  to  Kansas  who  can  tell 
you  of  conditions  there.  If  there  is  anyone  in  the  class  who 
has  been  through  the  central  states  or  has  lived  there,  his 
knowledge  may  be  able  to  heip  us  very  much  in  the  solution 
of  our  problem. l 

Advantages  in  Problem  Assignment.  These  two  il- 
lustrations reveal  the  following  advantages  of  the  prob- 
lem assignment  over  the  page  assignment : 

1  This  assignment  may  seem  burdensome  for  the  teacher, -but,  after 
learning  to  handle  lessons  from  the  problem  standpoint,  such  an  assign- 
ment is  no  more  difficult  than  naming  so  many  pages, 
c 


18         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

\x-l.    The    problem    of    industrial    relations    furnishes    a 

,  center  around  which  the  lesson  is  organized. 

Ix"  2.  Individual  effort  is  encouraged.  The  pupil  is  given 
opportunity  to  choose  various  means  of  obtaining  infor- 
mation and  is  not  tied  down  too  closely.  He  is  even 
encouraged  to  launch  out  for  himself  and  attack  the 
problem  in  a  new  way  and  to  search  for  sources  of  inf  orma- 

\tion  which  have  not  already  been  suggested. 

t\  3.  The  textbook  is  not  too  closely  followed  nor  is  it 
discarded.  It  is  used  to  the  fullest  possible  extent,  but 
it  is  not  allowed  to  limit  the  teacher  or  the  children. 
This  is  a  feature  of  instruction  which  every  teacher 
must  work  out  for  himself.  A  wise  use  of  the  text, 
not  allowing  himself  to  be  dominated  by  it,  necessitates 

,  his  constant  attention  and  effort. 

\s-  4.  Opportunity  for  weighing  values  was  furnished  to 
both  teacher  and  pupils.  This  is  a  very  important 
feature  of  the  thought  method.  The  teacher  must  select 
and  reject  subject  matter  if  the  most  valuable  material 
is  to  be  given  to  the  class.  The  children  also  must 
be  given  constant  opportunity  to  exercise  their  intellects 
in  choosing  objects  upon  which  they  will  concentrate 
their  energies.  By  learning  to  employ  their  time  prop- 
erly they  receive  good  lessons  in  self-mastery.  The 
ability  to  recognize  and  disregard  the  unimportant  is 
necessary  to  success  in  any  field. 

V  5.  Sufficient  material  was  furnished  so  that  the  bright- 
est child  had  opportunity  to  do  his  best,  while  the  state- 
ment of  the  problem  did  not  impose  any  standard  upon 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  19 

the  average  and  slow  children  which  would  discourage 
them. 

Results  Come  Slowly 

Degree  of  Definiteness  Varies.  This 'assignment  may 
have  been  made  more  definite,  or  it  may  have  allowed 
even  greater  freedom  to  the  children.  The  ability  and 
disposition  of  the  class  must  be  the  chief  factors  in  deter- 
mining just  how  specific  the  assignment  shall  be./  One 
or  two  specific  questions  or  suggestions  which  may  cause 
a  major  or  a  few  minor  problems  to  be  the  center  of  the 
lesson  may  be  sufficient.  The  following  are  illustrations 
of  such  suggestions  in  history  : 

1.  What  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Civil  War? 
What  was  the  general  cause?     Why  do  you  think  as  you  do? 

2.  Compare  the  North  and  the  South  at  the  beginning 
of  hostilities : 

a.  In  industries.  6.  In  agriculture,  c.  In  man  power. 
d.  In  ideals. 

Sometimes  it  is  beneficial  to  stimulate  the  problem  at- 
titude by  the  method  of  stating  the  assignment.  For 
example,  the  child  may  be  asked  to  "  prove  "  proposi- 
tions. The  following  are  illustrations  from  a  seventh 
grade  class : 

Prove  that  the  democratic  ideas  of  Jefferson  were  a 
necessary  and  a  good  influence  at  the  time  he  was  elected 
President.  In  order  to  prove  their  values,  you  will,  of  course, 
neecv  to  know  what  they  were  and  the  conditions  of  govern- 
ment at  the  time. 


20         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHQOL   PRACTICE 

v    A  much  less  difficult  assignment  was  furnished  another 
seventh  grade  in  the  questions  : 

1.  Would  you  have  voted  for  Jefferson?     Why? 

2.  What  effect  do  you  think  the  death  of  Hamilton  had 
upon  politics  at  the  time? 

You  will  be  expected  to  discuss  these  points  intelli- 
gently and  to  know  the  facts  concerning  them  as  reported  in 
the  book,  as  well  as  to  give  your  own  opinions. 

In  geography  a  teacher  gave  as  an  initial  assignment  on 
Holland  the  following : 

Holland  is  a  very  small  country,  yet  it  is  very  important. 
Study  your  lesson  with  this  in  mind.  You  can  find  out  why 
this  is  true  in  your  books  which  tell  of  Holland. 

It  has  long  been  the  custom  in  leading  schools  to 
stimulate  thought  in  reading  by  allowing  the  child  to 
-look  for  something  in  the  story  and  to  acquire  his  prac- 
tice in  reading  by  reporting  it.  Such  a  method  may  be 
used  even  in  the  first  grade.  Instead  of  saying,  "  Henry, 
read  the  next,"  the  teacher  says,  "  Henry,  tell  us  what 
the  Little  Red  Hen  said  to  the  Pig  "  ;  or,  "Will  you  all 
look  carefully  and  see  who  will  be  ready  first  to  tell  us 
what  Big  Jumbo  said  to  the  Camel?  r'  Unquestionably 
such  a  procedure  is  upon  a  much  higher  plane  than  the 
purely  mechanical  "  next  "  or  "  page  so  and  so." 

The  teacher  should  understand  that  if  a  class  has 
previously  been  held  down  to  prescribed  pages,  he  must 
not  expect  the  same  results  as  from  a  class  that  has  boon 
trained  in  organization  and  thinking.  Right  her^  lios 
one  of  the  most  common  causes  of  failure.  After  a  few 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  21 

attempts  without  any  reaction  on  the  part  of  the  chil- 
dren, the  teacher  often  goes  back  to  the  old  way.  As 
one  young  teacher  in  our  recent  summer  session  expressed 
it,  she  had  "  tried  the  problem  method  and  it  didn't 
work." 

Inexperienced  Classes  Need  More  Direction/  A  wise 
course  to  follow  is  to  make  the  first  assignments  of  this 
kind  very  definite.  Page  and  paragraph  under  each 
reference  may  be  given J,  Thought  and  reaction  will  be 
stimulated  by  asking  a  series  of  questions  on  each  point. 
As  the  class  develops  independence;- less  specific  assign- 
ments should  be  given.  ^Finally  the  place  may  be  reached 
where  only  the  statement  of  the  problem  is  necessary, 
and  the  children  will  have  developed  the  initiative  and 
ability  to  find  the  parts  of  their  texts,  references  in  books 
and  magazines,  and  materials  in  school  and  outside  which 
give  the  information  they  desire.  Following  this  they 
evaluate  the  information  and  organize  it,  bringing  the 
different  facts  to  bear  upon  the  problem  as  it  exists  at  the 
time,  discussing  present  needs  and  possible  future  de- 
velopments. Perfection  in  this  work  cannot  be  attained 
in  the  ordinary  elementary  school  and  is  often  not  at- 
tained in  the  college.  However,  it  will  be  surprising  to  any 
one  who  has  not  been  in  close  contact  with  the  work  to 
see  how  much  ability-of  this  nature  an  elementary  school 
class  will  develop. 

Teacher  Must  Learn  to  Organize  and  to  Think.  The 
teacher  who  tries  the  problem  method  for  the  first  time 
must  not  expect  to  find  his  own  work  as  easy  as  is  the  page 


22         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

assignment."  He  will  have  to  know  his  subject  matter 
better,  and  he  must  be  acquainted  with  the  sources  of 
information//  He  also  may  find  it  very  hard  to  evaluate 
and  organize,  for  probably  his  own  training  did  not  de- 
velop these  abilities.  Like  that  of  the  class,  his  ability 
will  grow  with  experience.  It  may  take  years  to  learn  to 
conduct  a  class  in  such  manner  that  each  child  will  be 
i  properly  stimulated  and  the  class  be  given  freedom  but 
at  the  same  time  held  to  suitable,  definite  requirements. 
The  best  the  young  teacher  can  do  is  to  try.  In  any 
case  little  will  be  lost  by  breaking  away  from  the  page 
method. 

Lack  of  Materials  No  Excuse  for  Using  Page  Methods. 
Lack  of  materials  is  often  given  as  a  reason  for  not  at- 
tempting this  kind  of  work.  But  whatever  the  local 
situation  may  be,  even  if  the  text  is  the  only  book  ob- 
tainable; the  problem  is  always  adjustable,  and  it  is  bet- 
ter to  use  the  one  book  to  develop  independence  and 
initiative  in  finding  and  applying  'the  information  it  con- 
tains than  to  read  and  recite  it  by  pages.  The  materials 
used  in  the  assignment  given  for  illustration  are  obtain- 
able in  any  locality.  If  the  school  has  no  collections  or 
museums,  a  week's  effort  by  the  teacher  and  pupils  will 
usually  result  in  a  very  creditable  beginning.  By  keep- 
ing a  good  lookout  and  adding  constantly  to  what  jp  on 
hand  the  teacher  can  soon  have  a  suitable  collection  of 
railroad  folders,  booklets  of  information  about  various 
parts  of  the  world  and  its  industries,  post  cards,  and 
sample  products. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  23 

Further  Illustrations  in  Geography 

The  illustrations  which  follow  have  been  found  valu- 
able in  certain,  localities.     They  are  given  only  to  indi- 
cate in  a  concrete  way  just  how  the  method  is  applied  to 
various  types  of  subject  matter.     The  problems  used  in  / 
any   community  should  be  related   to   local   industries,/ 
interests,    government,    or   other   features.     When   it   is\ 
possible,  the  problems  should  be  discovered  by  the  class,    „ 
but  this  cannot  be  expected  at  first.     A  sup^erioF  teacher 
is  always  on  the  lookout  for  problems.     They  are  never 
lacking.     As  the  painter  dis.cove^rs  scenes  and  the  writer 
finds  stories,  the  realrteacher  discerns  great  lessons 
what  the  uninitiated  call  commonplace. 

Grade  four.  Home  geography,  including  the  local  town 
or  city,  county,  and  state,  should  be  studied  in  this  grade. 
These  problems  are  taken  from  the  neighborhood  of  Greeley, 
Colorado. 

1.  The  locational  and  industrial  relation  of  city  to  the 
surrounding  country. 

2.  The  same  for  the  city  and  surrounding  country  (home 
county)  and  the  rest  of  the  state,  with  a  few  relations  to  the 
whole  United  States. 

3.  In  the  study  of  industrial  Delations  the  sugar  industry, 
being  especially  important  in  this  place,  is  studied  in  detail. 
A  large  number  of  problems  are  solved  in  following  it.     Some 
of  them  are : 

The  problems  that  arise  in  planting  and  cultivation. 

Soil,  care,  and  obtaining  labor. 

Harvesting  (problems  involved  and  how  they  are  met) . 
The  relation  between  the  farmer  and  the  factory.       / 

Not  considered  in  all  its  legal  details. 


24         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Making  sugar. 
Factory  visited. 
Sirup  made  at  school. 
Care  of  sugar. 

Some  of  the  problems  met  with  in  selling  it. 
The  values  and  uses  of  sugar. 
Value  of  this  industry  to  the  home  locality. 
People  employed. 
Money  circulated. 

4.  Other  industries  and  products  are  considered  with- 
out going  into  so  much  detail.  The  amount  of  detail  depends 
upon  the  time  that  is  left  after  finishing  the  foregoing. 

Another  illustration  of  the  problem  method  in  home 
geography  is  that  furnished  by  a  school  in  a  small  western 
town.  The  teacher,  after  carefully  planning  the  problems, 
took  her  class  to  the  grocery  store.  There  they  came  in 
contact  with  the  products  of  the  local  industries  and 
raised  many  questions  which  were  given  them  as  problems 
to  work  out  for  their  school  work,  the  teacher  being  care- 
ful to  select  only  those  problems  that  would  lead  to  a 
wide  acquaintance  with  the  field  which  she  already  had 
planned  to  cover.  The  following  is  a  sample  problem : 

Canned  goods. 

On  the  shelves  were  found  but  two  brands,   "Sun- 
burst''* and  "Kaw  Chief." 

Where  were  these  canned  ? 
Why  only  these  two? 

Groceryman  questioned,  said  it  was  due  to  the 
location  of  the  wholesale  houses  and  to  the  railroad  connec- 
tions. 

Railroad  lines  followed,  and  the  cities  studied. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  25 

Why  were  these  cities  the  center  of  the  canning  in- 
dustry ? 

This  led  to  the  question  of  just  what  was  canned. 
It  was  found  that  corn  was  canned  several  hundred 
miles  from  the  home  town,  and  was  also  one  of  the  chief  crops 
of  their  locality. 

Why  was  not  corn  canned  in  their  home  town? 
And  so  on  did  this  apparently  insignificant  problem 
of  canned  goods  on  the  shelves  of  the  village  grocery  store 
lead  them. 

Fifth  grade  problems.  North  America,  the  northwest  and 
north  central  section  under  special  consideration  for  the  week. 
Lumbering  a  type  industry. 

A  lumber  yard  is  visited.  Here  the  children  take  down 
in  their  notebooks  all  the  different  kinds  of  lumber,  their 
values,  and  the  various  ways  in  which  the  lumber  is  cut :  lath, 
shingles,  flooring,  and  siding. 

The  problem  of  where  the  boards  came  from  and  how  they 
were  brought  to  this  yard  is  projected. 

Geographies  and  other  books  read,  teacher  questioned, 
and  lumber  dealers  questioned. 

After  several  of  the  lumber  centers  have  been  discov- 
ered by  them,  they  locate  them  on  their  maps,  consider  approxi- 
mate distances,  get  freight  rates,  look  up  railroad  connections 
on  their  railroad  folder  maps. 

How  were  these  boards  taken  from  the  trees? 

Lumbering   in    the    great    woods    studied    through 
pictures  on  post  cards,  reading  in  texts  and  in  other  books. 
Transportation  of  lumber  to  mills. 
How  does  the  lumberman  live?     If  possible  a  man 
who  has  been  a  lumberman,  or  some  one  in  the  community 
who  has  been  in  lumber  camps,  should  be  consulted.     Often 
the  children  are  able  to  prevail  upon  this  person  to  come  and 
speak  to  the  school. 


26         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Other  large  problems  which  grow  out  of  this  and 
which  may  be  taken  up  if  time  permits  are : 

The  different  kinds  of  mills  for  cutting  lumber, 
shingles,  and  lath  ; 

The  protection  of  the  forests.  Bring  in  as  much  of 
the  work  and  preparation  of  the  forest  ranger  as  appears 
profitable. 

All  of  the  above,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind,  arises  out  of 
a  visit  to  a  lumber  yard  in  the  child's  own  neighborhood, 
thus  connecting  this  vast  industry  and  the  country  it 
covers  with  his  own  home.  After  such  a  visit  he  thinks, 
reasons,  remembers,  and  reads,  and  questions  everyone 
who  can  give  him  information.  Every  time  he  passes 
this  lumber  yard  he  looks  upon  it  with  new  interest,  and 
his  own  home  town  seems  more  a  part  of  the  great  world 
about  which  he  studies  at  school. 

The  Weather  May  Stimulate  Thought.  A  hot  day 
may  be  made  the  basis  of  thought  and  study  that  will 
reach  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  temperature  is  taken 
during  every  hour  of  the  day  by  a  committee  appointed 
from  the  class.  The  length  of  the  day  and  the  length  of 
the  night  are  noted.  The  time  of  year  is  considered. 
A  basis  for  comparing  these  conditions  with  those  of 
other  parts  of  the  world  is  formed. 

A  rainy  day  may  be  used  in  like  manner.  A  commit- 
tee measures  the  rainfall  for  the  day.  The  extent  of 
the  local  storm  is  studied.  This  is  followed  by  a  study 
of  storm  conditions  throughout  the  world.  The  reports 
of  rainfall  for  different  months  in  various  sections  of  the 


THE    PROBLEM   METHOD 


27 


COMPARATIVE   AVERAGE   TEMPERATURES 


Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

Jun. 

Jul. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Greenwich,  England.      .     . 

40 

38 

40 

42 

47 

53 

60 

63 

62 

57 

50 

43 

Olympia,  Wash.          .     .     . 

41 

39 

40 

44 

49 

55 

59 

62 

63 

57 

50 

44 

Isle  of  Wight,  England  .     . 

43 

41 

42 

43 

48 

53 

59 

62 

62 

59 

53 

48 

Aberdeen,  Wash  

41 

40 

41 

44 

48 

53 

57 

60 

62 

58 

52 

45 

York,  England  

38 

38 

39 

41' 

45 

50 

57 

60 

59 

55 

48 

43 

Victoria,  British  Col.      .     . 

41 

39 

40 

43 

47 

53 

57 

60 

60 

55 

50 

44 

Cambridge,  England       .     . 
Tacoma,  Wash  

38 
40 

38 
38 

39 
40 

42 
44 

46 

48 

52 
54 

58 
59 

62 
63 

61 

58 

57 
58 

49 
50 

43 
44 

Plymouth,  England  .     .     . 

43 

42 

43 

44 

48 

52 

58 

61 

61 

58 

51 

47 

Toledo,  Oregon      .... 

45 

43 

44 

46 

48 

53 

57 

61 

60 

59 

54 

49 

Valentia,  Ireland  .... 

45 

45 

45 

45 

48 

52 

56 

58 

59 

56 

51 

48 

Bandon,  Oregon    .... 

47 

45 

45 

47 

50 

53 

57 

58 

58 

56 

52 

49 

Edinburgh,  Scotland 

40 

39 

40 

41 

45 

50 

56 

58 

58 

54 

48 

43 

Olga,  Wash  

41 

39 

40 

43 

47 

53 

57 

59 

59 

55 

50 

44 

Aberdeen,  Scotland    .     .     . 

38 

38 

38 

40 

44 

48 

54 

57 

56 

53 

47 

42 

Pt.  Crescent,  Wash.  .     .     . 

38 

36 

37 

40 

45 

49 

53 

56 

56 

52 

47 

42 

Braemar,  Scotland     . 

35 

34 

35 

36 

40 

46 

52 

54 

54 

49 

43 

38 

Pt.  Simpson,  British  Col.    . 

37 

34 

35 

38 

42 

48 

53 

56 

57 

52 

47 

40 

Hebrides,  Scotland     .     .     . 

43 

42 

41 

41 

44 

48 

52 

55 

55 

53 

47 

45 

Tatoosh  Island,  Wash.   .     . 

43 

41 

41 

44 

46 

50 

54 

56 

56 

54 

50 

46 

Nantes,  France  

41 

40 

42 

45 

51 

56 

62 

66 

65 

60 

53 

45 

Roseburg,  Oregon.     .     .     . 

42 

41 

43 

47 

51 

57 

61 

66 

66 

61 

54 

46 

sRoscoff,  Brittany,  France 

46 

45 

45 

46 

50 

53 

58 

61 

62 

59 

55 

49 

Astoria,  Oregon     .... 

44 

41 

43 

46 

49 

54 

59 

61 

62 

59 

54 

47 

Paris,  France    

37 

36 

39 

43 

51 

56 

62 

65 

64 

59 

51 

43 

Washougal,  Wash.      .     .     . 

39 

37 

40 

45 

52 

55 

60 

65 

65 

60 

53 

47 

Helgoland,  Germany.     . 

38 

36 

35 

37 

43 

50 

57 

61 

62 

58 

51 

42 

Kuper  Is.,  British  Col.    .     . 

40 

38 

40 

41 

47 

52 

59 

62 

62 

56 

49 

42 

Lille,  France 

37 

36 

38 

42 

48 

54 

60 

63 

63 

59 

51 

42 

Nanaimo,  British  Col.    . 

40 

36 

39 

42 

47 

54 

58 

64 

63 

57 

50 

43 

Brussels,  Belgium  .... 

36 

34 

36 

40 

47 

53 

60 

63 

62 

58 

49 

41 

Tzouhalem,  British  Col. 

39 

35 

39 

42 

48 

53 

58 

63 

62 

56 

49 

44 

Utrecht,  Holland  .... 

36 

34 

36 

39 

46 

53 

60 

63 

62 

57 

48 

40 

Matsqui  Prairie,  Br.  Col.    . 

36 

34 

36 

41 

48 

54 

59 

63 

62 

56 

50 

41 

Kiel,  Germany 

37 

34 

34 

37 

44 

52 

60 

63 

62 

56 

49 

40 

Quamichin,  British  Col. 

39 

35 

36 

42 

47 

54 

59 

63 

62 

55 

49 

43 

Koenigsberg,  Germany  . 

29 

27 

27 

32 

42 

52 

60 

63 

62 

56 

46 

35 

Bella  Colla,  British  Col.      . 

31 

25 

29 

36 

44 

52 

57 

62 

61 

54 

45 

36 

Leipzig,  Germany  .... 

32 

31 

37 

46 

54 

62 

65 

63 

57 

57 

47 

37 

Linnville,  N.  C.  (Mts.)    .     . 

32 

31 

30 

40 

46 

58 

63 

66 

65 

59 

49 

40 

Karlsruhe,  Germany  .     .     . 

34 

33 

36 

41 

49 

56 

63 

66 

65 

59 

49 

40 

Stuttgart,  Germany   .     . 

33 

33 

36 

41 

50 

56 

63 

66 

65 

59 

50 

40 

Highlands,  N.  C.  (Mts.) 

35 

34 

35 

42 

50 

58 

65 

67 

66 

60 

51 

42 

Nuremburg,  Germany     . 

30 

29 

32 

38 

46 

54 

61 

64 

63 

56 

46 

37 

Oakland,  Md.  (Mts.).     .     . 

29 

28 

26 

37 

46 

56 

64 

66 

65 

61 

48 

37 

Gratz,  Austria  .... 

28 

26 

31 

38 

48 

56 

62 

65 

63 

57 

48 

36 

Deer  Park,  Md.  (Mts.)    .     . 

28 

26 

25 

37 

45 

57 

63 

67 

65 

60 

48 

37 

Czernowitz,  Austria    . 

26 

23 

25 

35 

47 

58 

65 

68 

67 

59 

48 

35 

Somerset,  Pa.  (Mts.)  .     .     . 

28 

26 

26 

36 

46 

57 

65 

68 

67 

61 

49 

39 

Data  like  the  above  should  form  the  basis  for  a  rational  understanding  of  comparatii 
features  in  different  parts  of  the  world.     The  child  should  not  memorize  these  figures^fmt ., 
should  use  them  in  his  th:  iking.     Extremes  of  temperature  are  better  than  these  a^ 


28         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 
world  are  studied,  and  the  child  learns  the  moisture  _con- 

4  t&i  /  v 

ditions  of  his  locality  as ''Compared  with  those  of  other 
places  in  his  own  country  or  even  on  the  other  side  of 
the  world. 

Combine  the  rainfall  and  heat  reports  (not  average  but 
monthly),  and  the  child  will  have  a  means  of  determining 
the  crops  that  may  be  grown  in  distant  places.  After 
predicting  what  may  be  grown  in  a  certain  place,  the 
pupils  read  in  the  text  to  find  how  near  the  prediction  is 
correct.  When  they  are  mistaken,  the  problem  of  why 
they  misjudged  is  a  good  one.  Fifth  and  sixth  grade 
children  who  have  studied  the  farm  products  of  one 
locality  are  quick  to  see  that  another  with  almost  iden- 
tical rainfall  and  temperature  is  likely  to  grow  the  same 
even  though  it  is  far  distant. 

Sixth  grade  problem.  Foreign  countries  are  to  be  studied. 
A  boy  who  has  a  good  stamp  collection  is  asked  to  bring  it 
to  echool.  This  projects  the  problem  of  governments  different 
from  our  own,  yet  having  direct  postal  relations  with  us. 
Letters  may  J3e  written  by  the  class  to  some  of  the  different 
countries.  A  letter  directed  to  the  U.  S.  Consul  asking  in- 
formation about  Jiis  neighborhood  is  likely  to  receive  a  reply. 

A  rubber  tire  made  at  Akron,  Ohio,  may  serve  to  project 
a  problem  connecting  the  home  town  through  that  city  with 
South  America. 

Materials  Must  Be  Selected  with  Care.  Any  thought- 
ful teacher  will  be  able  to  find  plenty  of  materials  in  his 
home  community  to  connect  it  with  almost  any  part  of 
the  world.  There  are  several  distinct  «r  spects  of  proper 


THE    PROBLEM    METHOD  29 

dealing  with  this  material  in  order  to  assure  success  in 
its  use.     They  are  : 

1.  Materials  which  it  will  be  possible  to  follow  must 
be  chosen. 

2.  Those  which  have  the  widest  connection  with  the 
places  or  industries  which  the  teacher  has  planned  to 
consider,  and  those  which  are  likely  to  provide  greatest 
opportunity  for  thought  work  and  individual  investiga- 
tion should  be  selected. 

3.  The  reference  material  must  be  gathered  and  pre- 
pared by  the  teacher  in  order  that  the  class  need  not 
waste  time  in  searching  for  it  or  overlook  it  entirely. 

4.  The  materials   that   are  to   be  studied   should  be 
organized  by  the  teacher  at  the  beginning  of  the  term,  so 
that  they  will  be  properly  related  and  fit  into  his  course 
of  study.     It  would  be  impossible  to  succeed  in  this  type 
of  work  by  bringing  in  things  from  the  community  merely 
because  they  have"  a  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
without  first  considering  the  relation  of  such  problems  \o 
the  other  work^o^ne  scl 


Problems  in  Arithmetic 


Arithmetic  Primarily  a  Mechanical  Subject.  Arith- 
metic has  been  very  much  overestimated  as  a  thought- 
developing  subject.  It  demands  a  specialized  type  of 
abstract  association  rather  than  thought  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word.  The  modern  thinker  is  one  who 
works  in  the  world  of  action  rather  than  in  the  abstract, 
and  his  thought  employs  mathematics  as  a  means  of 


30         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

solving  the  larger  problems  depending  upon  arithmetic, 
geometry,  calculus,  or  trigonometry.  The  study  of  arith- 
metic can  aid  in  developing  such  ability  only  in  the  meas- 
ure that  it  is  brought  to  bear  upon  problems  which  the 
children  find  in  the  world  about  them. 

Most  arithmetic  work  should  be  recognized  as  purely 
mechanical.  In  this  respect  it  is  little  different  from 
spelling.  We  must  insist  upon  children  learning  how  to 
add,  subtract,  multiply,  and  divide ;  and  the  only  way 
to  learn  is  to  practice.  There  is  little  reasoning  in  learn- 
ing to  multiply  fractions  or  to  add  decimals,  and  only  a 
slight  difference  is  found  between  work  of  this  type  and 
the  solution  of  problems  in  interest  after  the  method  has 
been  explained.  If  the  child  forgets  the  method,  he 
must  learn  it  again.  His  success  depends  entirely  upon 
his  memory. 

^Subject  Valuable  but  the  Chief  Method  Is  Drill.  This 
attitude  in  no  way  minimizes  the  value  of  this  subject, 
which  provides  an  essential  mechanical  basis  for  business, 
engineering,  farming,  and  most  of  the  activities  of  civ- 
ilized life.  However,  we  will  be  more  successful  in 
teaching  it  if  we  recognize  that  the  chief  method  should 
be  drill;  motivated,  to  be  sure,  in  every  possible  way, 
but,  nevertheless,  drill.  This  necessitates  a  large  use  of 
problems  in  the  four  fundamentals,  and  in  fractions, 
decimals,  percentage,  interest,  and  mensuration,  selected 
so  as  to  provide  exercise  in  the  measure  that  the  chil- 
dren show  a  need  for  it.  These  problems  may  be  pro- 
vided-by  the  teacher  and  written  on  the  board  each  day, 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  31 

but  it  will  be  a  saving  of  time  to  select  them  from  some 
good  text. 

Life  Problems.  However,  in  addition  to  this  work,  a 
large  amount  of  exercise  in  concrete  thinking  should  be 
provided.  The  child,  while  developing  the  ability  to 
solve  the  artificial  problems  furnished  by  his  teacher  or 
text,  should  be  taught  to  think  of  the  application  of  the 
ability  he  is  acquiring  to  the  larger  problems  of  life.  If 
he  realizes  that  his  progress  in  percentage  will  be  a  direct 
help  in  the  problem  of  saving  money ;  that  his  ability  to 
solve  problems  in  interest  may  be  used  in  advising  his 
parents  whether  or  not  to  buy  a  piano  on  the  installment 
plan ;  and  that  the  construction  of  his  own  home  or  the 
new  house  that  is  being  built  around  the  corner  involves 
the  constant  use  of  mensuration,  he  is  likely  to  associate 
his  school  arithmetic  with  his  everyday  thoughts. 

From  the  third  grade  up  arithmetic  should  be  used  in 
connection  with  actual  life  problems  in  addition  to  those 
taken  from  books.  In  the  lower  grades  one  period  each 
week  can  profitably  be  given  to  the  development  and 
solution  of  problems  of  the  local  community  in  which  the 
use  of  arithmetic  plays  a  part,  while  in  the  upper  grades 
a  larger  amount  of  time  may  be  given,  depending  upon 
the  extent  to  which  the  children  react  to  the  plan  and  the 
local  problems  that  are  available.  This  work,  when 
carefully  planned,  brings  new  interest  into  the  arithmetic 
class,  and  if  persisted  in  throughout  the  school  course 
will  develop  the  habit  of  intelligently  applying  arith- 
metic. 


32         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Arithmetic  Not  Used   Enough  in  Everyday  Life.     It 

is  remarkable  how  many  persons  there  are  who  have  been 
well  trained  in  mathematics  in  school  but  who  never  use 
it  in  life.  They  trust  the  clerks  to  make  correct  change 
for  them ;  the  bank  keeps  track  of  their  balances ;  the 
merchant  is  implicitly  trusted  to  give  them  their  correct 
accounts;  interest  on  installment  purchases  is  forgotten 
or  disregarded  until  it  is  due ;  the  plumber,  the  plasterer, 
or  the  painter  works  for  them  and  sends  in  a  bill.  They 
pay  it  without  knowing  whether  or  not  the  charge  is  just. 
A  mild  sensation  was  caused  when  one  of  our  boys  dis- 
covered in  his  concrete  arithmetic  work  that  his  family 
was  paying  for  a  house  on  the  installment  plan  under  a 
contract  which  did  not  furnish  them  with  the  means  of 
calculating  the  amount  of  interest  payable  before  the  prop- 
erty would  be  turned  over.  A  girl  of  thirteen  discovered 
that  her  father  had  been  paying  eight  per  cent  interest 
for  six  years  thinking  all  the  time  that  he  was  paying 
seven.  A  boy  whose  parents  were  building  a  new  house 
figured  the  cost  of  the  plumbing  supplies  and  found  that 
the  only  company  they  had  consulted  was  charging 
$185  to  put  in  materials  which  he  could  purchase  for 
$42.  Concluding  that  this  was  too  much  he  obtained 
bids  from  several  other  companies.  He  learned  a  life 
lesson  when  he  discovered  that  no  two  of  them  were  the 
same  and  that  a  reputable  concern  would  do  the  same 
work  for  $110.  These  are  type  incidents  of  common 
experiences  in  a  school  in  which  life  problems  are  made  a 
regular  part  of  the  work. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  33 

Life   Problems   Supplement  Regular  Work.     It   is   a 

mistake  to  try  to  confine  all  the  arithmetic  to  life 
problems.  Although  these  furnish  some  drill,  they  can- 
not be  provided  so  as  to  furnish  sufficient  exercise  to  the 
class  unless  we  make  them  as  artificial  as  those  in  text- 
books. More  is  gained  by  staying  with  the  regular 
arithmetic,  within  functional  limits  of  course,  and  doing 
this  better  by  associating  it  with  life.  The  purpose  of  life 
problems  is  to  develop  the  habit  of  using  arithmetic  in 
connection  with  the  larger  concrete  problems  of  life. 
As  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  many  of  these 
have  a  large  mathematical  element  but  are  not  properly 
met  by  the  majority  of  people  because  they  are  loath  to 
use  even  the  mathematics  they  have  been  taught  in 
school.  The  safest  method  is  to  use  life  problems  as  often 
as  children  will  bring  them  in.  This  will  depend  upon 
the  method  the  teacher  employs  in  presenting  the  plan. 

Illustrations  of  life  problems  involving  a  use  of  arith- 
metic. 

Problem :   How  may  I   learn   to  save  and   also   help  my 
parents  to  save? 

1.  I  may  start  a  bank  account.  (Every  school  should 
have  its  penny  savings  bank,  which  is  merely  a  system  of 
receiving  money  at  school  and  depositing  it  in  a  local  bank. 
Any  banker  will  be  glad  to  arrange  for  such  a  scheme.  The 
city  of  Toledo  reports  that  the  sum  of  $25,000  is  deposited 
annually  in  its  public  school  savings  accounts,  carried  on  in 
connection  with  applied  arithmetic.)  l 

1  Under  the  stimulus  of  the  War,  Thrift  Stamps  were  sold  at  school 
in  most  communities.     We  should  continue  something  along  this  line, 
c 


34         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

2.  I  may  add  the  monthly  bills.     (These  may  be  brought 
to  school  and  the  children  be  allowed  to  compare  monthly 
expenditures.     There  is  danger  here  of  invading  the  privacy 
of  the  home,    and  this  must  not  be  urged  too  much.     The 
incorporation  into  the  school  work  of  the  monthly  bills,  if 
continued  throughout  the  year,  has  been  found  to  please  the 
majority   of   parents.     The    average   father   appreciates   any 
interest  his  children  may  take  in  the  family  expenditures. 
The  tact  of  the  teacher  has  a  great   deal  to  do  with  the 
results.) 

3.  I  may  keep  books  of  my  own  expenses,  so  that  I  will 
know  at  the  end  of  the  year  where  my  money  has  gone. 

4.  I    should   make   myself   as   profitable   to  my  family 
as  I  can,  and,  at  least,  not  become  a  burden. 

a.  By  helping  at  home  with  chores  and  work. 
Problems  Involved :  A  man's  work  is  worth  35  cents  per 
hour.  (The  children  should  discover  this  by  finding  out  what 
men  in  the  community  are  paid  for  their  work.)  A  boy's  work 
should  be  worth  15  cents  per  hour.  Every  hour  I  work  I  am 
saving  15  cents  for  my  family.  (This  may  be  continued  until 
the  child  has  calculated  and  discussed  saving  in  relation  to 
the  cost  of  his  shoes,  cap,  stockings,  etc.) 

Other  large  problems,  some  of  which  afford  even  greater 
opportunities  for  applied  arithmetic  than  the  one  given 
above,  are : 

The  construction  of  a  building  (covering  every- 
thing in  practical  mensuration). 

Problems  in  construction  and  cost  of  the  cement 
walk  in  front  of  child's  home.  Should  be  taken  up  when  the 
children  are  able  to  see  a  cement  walk  under  construction. 

Does  it  pay  to  keep  an  automobile?  How  much  per 
month  and  per  mile  does  it  cost  the  family  to  own  the  machine  ? 


THE    PROBLEM   METHOD  35 

A  live  boy  or  girl  may  take  great  delight  in  reporting  at  regu- 
lar intervals  on  this  problem. 

Renting  or  buying  a  garage. 

Value  of  the  home  garden. 

Profit  and  loss  in  chickens,  rabbits,  etc.     (Should  not 
be  undertaken  unless  these  are  kept  track  of  for  a  full  year.) 

Cost  of  pets. 

Problem  of  the  best  expenditure  of  a  certain  amount 
of  money  at  Christmas. 

Home  Economics  problems : 
Shall  we  buy  or  bake  bread  ? 
Cost  of  parties,  various  menus,  etc. 

Problems  Must  Come  from  Lives  of  Children.     All  of 

the  above  problems  are  valuable  to  the  extent  that  they 
are  taken  up  by  the  children  in  connection  with  every- 
day life.  Inferences  drawn  from  them  are  likely  to  per- 
sist through  life.  Thus  they  should  be  followed  to  re- 
liable results  before  any  conclusions  are  formed.  This 
work  is  not  designed  to  train  children  in  the  peculiar 
arithmetic  of  different  vocations,  and  must  not  be  put  in 
the  same  class  with  the  varying  types  of  vocational 
arithmetic  made  up  of  artificial  problems.  Life  prob- 
lems must  come  from  the  children,  and  the  teacher 
should  never  do  more  than  suggest.  Those  of  the  class 
who  do  not  care  to  take  up  life  problems  may  be  well 
supplied  with  regular  textbook  work  If  properly 
managed,  however,  the  life-work  day  will  be  eagerly 
looked  forward  to  by  the  entire  class. 

Community  Problems.     In  addition  to  life  problems 
(those  taken  from  the  lives  of  the  individuals  in  the  class) 


36         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

many  schools  are  supplementing  the  regular  arithmetic 
with  community  problems.  In  relating  arithmetic  to 
the  industries  of  the  community,  we  are  using  it  to  form 
a  rational  attitude  toward,  and  a  better  understanding  of, 
the  local  problems  the  child  constantly  meets,  and  to 
whose  existence  he  is  usually  oblivious. 

The  city  of  Indianapolis  prints  a  58-page  booklet  of 
these  problems.  In  the  introduction  it  is  maintained 
that 

"  A  rational  presentation  of  the  processes  and  principles 
of  arithmetic  can  be  secured  as  well  through  material  repre- 
senting real  conditions  as  through  material  representing  arti- 
ficial conditions." 

The  problems  are  taken  from  lumber  yards,  buildings 
under  construction,  a  brush  and  broom  factory,  gas  plant, 
bakery,  a  canning  factory,  veneer  works,  a  dairy  and  milk 
depot,  fire  department,  city  market,  city  hospital,  tax- 
ation in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  government  of  Wood- 
ruff Place,  a  branch  of  the  city  library,  cement  walks 
and  street  improvement,  construction  of  boulevards, 
railway  passenger  service,  transportation,  insurance,  and 
the  stock  market.  Although  they  furnish  more  or  less 
drill  they  are  not  given  primarily  for  this  purpose.  Their 
chief  value  is  civic.  From  dealing  with  problems  which 
are  daily  met  by  his  townspeople,  the  child  will  get  a 
more  sympathetic  attitude  toward  and  a  constructive 
interest  in  what  they  are  doing.  Problems  are  based 
upon  accurate  data,  and  inferences  drawn  from  the  re- 
sults obtained  may  be  relied  upon. 


THE  PROBLEM  METHOD  37 

Problems  in  History 
/ 

History  and  civics  are  well  adapted  to   the  problem 

method.  Memory  work  in  these  subjects  has  now  be- 
come incidental.  Wide  acquaintance  and  insight  on  the 
part  of  the  children  is  the  modern  aim  in  teaching  them. 
Dates  are  remembered  because  they  are  tied  up  with  is- 
sues of  importance;  and  the  time  element  may  be  en- 
tirely disregarded  unless  it  is  a  factor  in  bringing  about 
events.  Information  is  not  neglected  in  teaching  history 
or  civics  by  the  thought  method ;  their  facts  are  unified 
and  given  purpose  and  direction. 

The  method  here  is  much  the  same  as  in  geography. 
The  present  is  used  as  a  basis  of  comparison.  Children 
are  taught  to  compare  constantly  the  problems  of  their 
ancestors  with  those  we  are  meeting  to-day.  Thus,  the 
Colonial  period  may  be  studied  under  the  large  problem 
of  adjustment  to  the  New  World.  Thought  must  be 
constantly  exercised  in  grappling  with  the  problems 
which  confronted  the  colonists.  The  following  prob- 
lems furnish  a  basis  for  a  complete  problem  study  of  this 
period.  They  furnish  central  and  connecting  themes  in 
studying  the  many  apparently  unrelated  events : 

1.   Adjustment  to  new  geographical  conditions. 

(a)  Climatic,  (6)  agricultural,  (c)  natural  surround- 
ings. 
^    2.   Getting  along  with  the  Indians. 

(a)  Differences  between  the  two  peoples  in  (1)  mode 
of  living,  (2)  beliefs  and  customs,  (3)  temperament,  (4)  methods 
of  warfare. 


38         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 


3.  The  problem  of  government. 

(Covers  a  large  field  and  contains  many  smaller  prob- 
lems.) 

4.  Religious  problems. 

(Different  beliefs,   toleration,   persecution,   power   of 
minister,  etc.) 

A  complete  development  of  these  four  problems  will 
bring  the  children  into  contact  with  a  great  deal  more 
history  than  could  be  taught  by  following  a  textbook. 
In  learning  to  look  upon  the  facts  of  history  as  factors 
in  the  solution  of  problems,  they  lay  the  foundation  for 
the  interpretation  of  all  the  history  which  follows.  As 
soon  as  a  child  has  learned  to  think  in  terms  of  history  all 
its  difficulties  disappear.  For  example,  let  anyone  take 
up  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  try  to  learn  its  terms  in 
an  unrelated  way ;  then  let  him  try  to  learn  them  as  re- 
lated to  the  problem  of  slavery  and  the  conditions  which 
existed  at  the  time.  By  the  first  •  method  the  task  is 
practically  impossible,  especially  if  these  terms  are  to  be 
retained  for  very  long.  Using  the  second  method,  if  the 
conditions  are  properly  grouped,  one  may  be  able  to- 
predict  many  of  the  terms,  and,  once  having  followed 
the  remedies  proposed  to  meet  the  problem  with  which 
Congress  was  dealing,  the  difficulty  of  memorizing  becomes 
insignificant. 

Problems  in  Home  Economics 

This  subject,  so  often  taught  in  a  purely  mechanical 
fashion,  readily  lends  itself  to  the  thought  method.  To 
bring  greater  efficiency  into  the  home  it  is  necessary  to 


THE   PROBLEM  METHOD  39 

develop  a  thinking  attitude  toward  home  problems. 
Mechanical  efficiency  is  good  enough  on  the  part  of 
servants,  but  those  who  manage  homes  need  to  be  able 
to  organize. 

In  making  plans  for  the  year  the  teacher  should  first 
consider  the  living  conditions  in  the  homes  of  the  girls 
who  are  going  to  take  the  course.  Too  much  planning 
is  usually  done  upon  the  mechanical  side  without  ref- 
erence to  this  more  important  feature.  Granting  that 
certain  mechanical  principles  are  furnished  by  a  skirt, 
others  by  a  middy  blouse,  and  still  others  by  under- 
garments, it  is  still  not  profitable  to  practice  them  in  an 
unrelated  way. 

The  following  problems  furnished  material  for  a  year's 
work  to  a  seventh-grade  class : 

As  a  girl  in  the  seventh  grade  I  have  many  home  inter- 
ests and  duties.  I  should  acquire  some  definite  abilities  to 
be  more  helpful  and  valuable  as  a  part  of  my  home  life. 

1.   What  should  I  learn  about  the  home  in  order  to  make 
myself  more  useful  ? 

a.  I  may  make  some  of  my  own  clothes. 
6.  I  may  help  in  mending  clothes. 

c.  I  may  help  to  beautify  the  home  and    make 
decorations  for  it. 

d.  I  may  help  to  save : 

By  learning  how  to  buy. 

By  making  proper  use  of  materials  purchased. 

By  conservation. 

e.  I  may  help  to  keep  the  home  clean  and  sanitary. 
Problem  a  further  developed. 


40         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

In  making  my  own  clothes  what  is  the  best  garment 
I  could  attempt  at  this  time?  It  should  be  useful,  and  yet 
simple  enough  for  me  to  make  without  unnecessary  destruc- 
tion of  materials. 

Discussion  follows.  Here  the  teacher  is  afforded 
opportunity  to  explain  why  the  girls  should  not  attempt  to 
make  different  garments  which  may  be  mentioned.  Meet- 
ing this  problem  now  will  save  no  end  of  trouble  and  dissatis- 
faction later  on.  The  girls  will  also  be  interested  in  the  ex- 
planations of  the  teacher  and  give  thoughtful  attention  because 
they  have  a  definite  need  for  knowing  what  the  teacher  is 
telling  them.  This  furnishes  a  motive  for  "theory  lessons." 
Apron  selected  as  the  first  problem. 

Sub-problems : 

What  materials  f  Motive  furnished  for  as  wide 
a  study  of  materials  as  the  teacher  wants  to  introduce  here. 

Use  of  sewing  machine.  The  child  gives  better 
attention  and  learns  more  quickly  how  to  use  the  machine 
when  the  explanation  of  it  is  a  part  of  a  piece  of  work  that  is 
to  follow.  As  much  is  mastered  in  one  lesson  of  this  kind  as 
can  be  done  in  a  week  when  the  sewing  machine  is  taken  up 
unrelated  to  the  plans  of  the  children  and  preliminary  to 
anything  definite  in  the  way  of  its  use. 

I  must  keep  the  machine  in  good  condition  so  as 
not  to  lose  time  in  my  work.     Directions  as  to  care  of  machine. 

Design  of  apron.    As  wide  .a  study  as  seems  profit- 
able. 

Decoration.    As  much  individuality  as  possible. 

Throughout  the  entire  course  each  new  step  is  de- 
veloped in  relation  to  the  children's  realization  of  their 
need  for  doing  just  what  is  planned  in  connection  with 
the  different  large  problems  a,  b,  c,  d,  and  e.  A  happy 


THE  PROBLEM   METHOD  41 

zest  for  the  work  is  a  result,  and  the  school  tasks  will 
develop  a  more  thoughtful  attitude  toward  the  problems 
of  the  home  as  well  as  being  definitely  helpful  in  solving 
some  of  them. 

Illustration  of  Mechanical  Method  Which  Failed. 
The  mechanical  method  so  often  employed  by  teachers  of 
home  economics  causes  the  girls  to  dislike  sewing  and 
cooking,  or  to  conclude  that  such  work  at  school  has  no 
connection  with  the  tasks  of  the  home.  The  following 
shows  how  one  teacher  failed  in  her  work  although 
she  took  up  the  same  materials  used  in  the  above 
illustration. 

Preparatory  work : 

1.  Thread,  a   study  of  the   different   colors,   sizes,  and 
thread  materials. 

2.  Stitches,  study  of  and  practice  in  making  different 
kinds. 

3.  Seams,  study  and  practice. 

4.  The  sewing  machine  ;  a  study  of  its  different  parts. 
Preliminary  practice  on  the  machine  until  an  ability  to  handle 
it  was  fairly  well  developed.     Drawings  made  of  parts  of  the 
machine. 

First  task:  make  an  apron. 

Materials :    selected   by   the   teacher  without  dis- 
cussion. 

Design :  furnished  by  teacher. 

(The  fundamental  idea  being  that  children 
should  not  be  permitted  to  take  part  in  choosing  what  they 
are  to  do,  they  being  too  " immature."  Materials  and  designs 
should  be  taken  up  in  special  courses  and  not  be  brought  into 
a  course  in  sewing.) 


42         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

In  a  few  weeks  the  children  were  disgusted  with  the 
work,  and  the  task  of  disciplining  them  was  almost  im- 
possible. By  the  end  of  the  fifth  week  the  majority 
had  brought  notes  from  their  parents  giving  various 
reasons  why  they  should  withdraw  from  the  course. 

Problems  and  Topics 

One  often  hears  the  question,  "  What  is  the  essential 
difference  between  the  problem  method  and  the  topic 
method?"  The  answer  is  this:  the  problem  furnishes 
more  opportunity  for  thinking  on  the  part  of  the  chil- 
dren. A  topic  may  be  developed  as  a  problem,  but  it  is 
not  always  so  treated.  A  child  may  recite  on  a  topic  in 
somewhat  the  same  way  he  does  on  a  page.  Needles, 
thread,  and  sewing  machines  were  very  uninteresting 
when  considered  as  topics  in  the  home  economics  work 
described  on  the  foregoing  page,  but  as  parts  of  a  prob- 
lem which  the  children  desired  to  solve  they  furnished 
vital  aids  and  were  considered  worth  knowing  about. 

The  best  method  of  answering  this  question  is  to  treat 
one  subject  from  the  two  standpoints.  This  may  be  done 
as  follows : 

Roads.     Treated  topically  as  a  lesson  in  civics. 

1.  Number  of  miles  of  roads  in  home  county. 

2.  Names  and  general  direction  of  chief  roads. 

3.  Taxes  levied  to  support  roads. 

4.  Road  laws  for  drivers. 

5.  Number  of  miles  of  paved  roads  in  home  county. 

6.  A  description  of  the  different  materials  used  in  paving. 

7.  The  number  of  bridges  in  the  home  county. 


THE   PROBLEM   METHOD  43 

8.  The  duties  of  the  road  overseer. 

9.  Description  of  methods  and  machinery  used  in  im- 
proving roads. 

Roads.     Treated  as  a  problem  in  civics. 

1.  Why  do  we  have  roads?     Is  there  any  advantage  to 
the  members  of  this  class  in  having  roads  ? 

Besides  the  fact  that  roads  make  it  possible  to 
travel,  the  children  try  to  find : 

Relation  of  roads  to  the  price  of  farm  products. 
Their   relation   to    the    cultivation   of   farms   in 
distant  places. 

The  relation  of  their  condition  to : 
Delivery  of  U.  S.  mail. 

The  doctor  and  his  patients,   (being   a  factor 
in  the  successful  treatment  of  disease). 

The    passage    of    tourists    through   the    local 
county  (bringing  in  the  value  of  tourist  travel). 
The  consolidation  of  schools. 
Other  similar  topics. 

2.  How  may  we  improve  our  roads? 

Study  of  roads  already  in  existence  in  order  to 
determine  how  well  they  meet  the  demands  outlined  and 
studied  under  point  1. 

Do  we  need  any  more  trans-state  or  continental 
roads  ? 

In  this  connection  note  roads  in  existence  and 
study  what  large  highways  go  through  the  state  but  not  through 
the  home  county. 

What  soil  and  drainage  conditions  have  to  be 
met  in  improving  the  roads  ? 

Study  of  bad  roads  and  especially  bad  places  near 
the  city,  with  a  consideration  of  means  of  improving  them. 

Are  the  taxes  levied  sufficient  to  maintain  the 
roads  as  they  should  be  maintained? 


44         MODERN    ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Study  of  the  taxes  of  the  county.  Question 
officers  in  charge  of  roads  on  this  point. 

How  should  we  go  about  increasing  taxes? 

We  must  be  careful  not  to  be  unjust. 

We  must  not  overburden  the  people  with  taxes. 

In  this  connection,  what  other  taxes  are  they 
paying? 

The  problem  may  be  continued  until  all  the 
nine  divisions  of  the  topic  have  been  included. 

In  the  problem  development  we  see  a  marshaling  of 
facts  and  topics  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  conclusions 
and  constant  thinking,  not  only  as  the  problem  progresses 
but  even  after  it  has  been  completed.  In  addition,  there 
is  now  a  constant  relation  between  topics  which  were 
comparatively  isolated  under  the  topic  method.  One 
may  say  that  topics  need  not  be  thus  isolated,  and  the 
answer  is,  "  Certainly  not ;  we  should  organize  them  into 
parts  of  a  problem."  In  the  measure  that  topics  are 
organized,  related,  and  brought  into  the  child's  individual 
life,  they  approach  problems. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   PROJECT 

Characteristics,  Uses,  and  Values 

Problem  and  Project.  As  explained  before,  the  proj- 
ect  is  different  from  the  problem  in  that  its  essential 
feature  is  the  provision  of  something  to  organize,  in- 
vestigate, or  accomplish,  rather  than  to  stimulate  thought. 
It  may  be  a  problem  or  a  part  of  a  problem,  and  it  may 
embrace  problems.  The  more  good  problems  a  project 
affords  the  better  it  is  for  educational  purposes.  To 
afford  something  to  do,  the  project  must  necessarily 
arise  from  the  interests  of  the  children.  The  method 
may  be  illustrated  by  quoting  a  description  of  its  use  in 
the  Horace  Mann  School.  George  D.  von  Hofe  says, 
"  The  sixth-grade  pupils  in  the  Horace  Mann  school  are 
studying  science  regardless  of  every  artificial  division. 
The  class  chooses  a  project,  something  that  has  attracted 
attention  and  in  which  they  are  vitally  interested.  The 
teacher  then  presents  the  information  to  follow  not  the 
so-called  logical  development  found  in  textbooks,  but 
the  trend  of  thought  of  the  pupils." 

It  is  not  possible  to  separate  the  project  from  the  prob- 
lem method.  Some  persons  define  the  project  as  the 

1  Teachers  College  Record,  May,  1916,  pp.  240-246. 
45 


46         MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

"  end-point  "  of  the  problem.  Many  of  the  illustrations 
given  in  the  preceding  chapter  could  be  called  projects. 
However,  the  project  view  adds  distinctly  to  the  success 
of  problems. 

Provides  for  Longer  Assignment.  The  distinct  ad- 
vantage of  the  project  over  the  old  topic  or  question 
and  answer  method  is  that  it  provides  for  continuous 
work  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  rather  than  assignment 
from  day  to  day.  It  thus  allows  for  weighing  values 
and  organization  of  material  along  vital  lines  by  both 
teacher  and  pupil.  Consider  these  points  in  the  follow- 
ing illustrations  : 

Project  in  history  :  Territorial  expansion  in  the  United 
States. 

In  following  this  project  the  class  will  read  widely 
in  the  text  and  in  reference  books.  The  work  may  take  up 
two  Weeks  and  end  with  a  debate.  The  two  weeks'  work  is 
bound  together  in  the  project.  The  children  think  constantly 
about  the  various  issues  involved  during  the  period.  They 
not  only  know  about  this  and  that  acquisition,  but  they  live 
over  and  think  out  the  general  principle  of  expansion. 

Project  in  mathematics :    Eighth  grade  mensuration. 

To  study  the  mathematics  involved  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  house. 

Practically  every  problem  in  functional  mensuration 
will  be  discovered  in  the  project.  The  children  will  be  study- 
ing mensuration  on  a  higher  plane  after  an  introduction  of 
this  kind.  Some  connection  with  a  house  that  is  being  built 
in  the  community  may  be  kept  up  during  the  entire  study  of 
mensuration.  Such  a  project  will  not  succeed  unless  drill 
problems  aside  from  the  construction  of  the  house  are  intro- 


THE   PROJECT  47 

duced.  Too  often  it  becomes  more  house  than  arithmetic. 
This,  of  course,  would  not  be  an  arithmetic  project. 

Project  in  Civics : 

To  study  city  government  in  order  to  know  how  to 
improve  our  own.  This  will  include  a  study  of  the  home  city. 
Many  visits  to  different  public  places  will  be  a  part.  Public 
men  will  be  questioned  and  will  be  asked  to  speak  to  the  class. 
During  it  all  every  child  knows  that  his  lesson  for  several 
weeks  will  center  around  city  governments.  Of  course  this 
will  be  very  definitely  divided  among  different  days,  but  at 
the  same  time  the  child  is  interested  in  his  daily  lesson  he  is 
also  interested  in  the  larger  project  of  which  it  is  a  part. 

By  doing  such  work  the  pupils  are  trained  in  inde- 
pendence in  investigation.  They  learn  how  to  follow 
out  an  undertaking. 

Does  Not  Replace  but  Aids  Regular  Work.  The  proj- 
ect  is  brought  into  the  school  not  in  opposition  to  the 
regular  work  but  as  an  aid  and  a  supplement  to  it.  When 
we  speak  of  discarding  logical  order,  only  that  part  of 
logical  order  which  has  proved  a  drawback  to  teaching  is 
meant,  and  order  is  by  no  means  discarded.  Instead, 
there  is  substituted  the  natural  order,  the  order  of  in- 
terest and  purpose.  The  textbook  is  used  as  a  refer- 
ence handbook/7  and  its  contents  are  mastered  and 
related  to  the  child's  life,  not  necessarily  in  the  order 
given  in  the  book  but  in  the  order  of  the  development 
of  the  project.  That  which  is  learned  in  this  way  will  be 
retained  because  it  is  made  a  part  of  life.  Most  of  the 
knowledge  gained  in  the  old  way  of  servilely  following 
the  text  is  forgotten  as  soon  as  examination  time 


48         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

passes,  and  often,  to  the  chagrin  of  teachers,  even  be- 
fore it  arrives. 

Supplements  School  Work.  The  project  serves  to 
keep  the  child  interested  in  wholesome  work  in  the  hours 
after  school.  It  takes  the  place  of  old  style  home  work, 
which  was  usually  nothing  more  than  an  addition  to  dis- 
agreeable school  tasks.  Harmful  recreation  is  also  by 
this  means  supplanted  by  occupations  both  wholesome 
and  educational. 

The  construction  and  maintenance  of  a  wireless  plant, 
for  example,  is  a  project  which  will  lead  a  boy  into  profit- 
able fields,  will  keep  him  "off  the  street,"  and  will 
provide  a  stabilizer  for  his  disposition.  Parents  will  find 
it  a  profitable  investment  to  spend  money  on  a  boy  in 
this  way,  and  teachers  will  reap  ample  reward  in  better 
school  work  for  any  time  they  spend  in  fostering  such  a 
project. 

The  Part  Projects  Have  Always  Played  in  Education. 
The  project  is  new  only  in  the  sense  that  it  is  becoming  a 
definite  term  in  educational  literature  and  is  receiving 
wider  recognition  in  school  practice.  It  is  a  universal 
means  to  education  and  growth  and  has  played  a  large 
part  in  all  education  ever  since  learning  has  been  an  at- 
tribute of  mankind.  Long  before  arbitrary  logical  pro- 
cedure had  established  its  blighting  control  over  our 
schools,  the  method  of  the  teachers,  the  wise  men,  or 
medicine  men  was  essentially  the  project.  The  learner 
came  to  the  teacher  in  order  to  learn  how  to  achieve  some 
definite  end  he  had  in  view.  Even  before  the  existence 


THE   PROJECT  49 

of  teachers,  savage  man  learned  of  the  world  about  him 
through  his  projects.  The  projects  which  led  him  to  go 
out  upon  the  water  were,  without  question,  at  the  basis 
of  the  origin  and  evolution  of  navigation.  If  he  con- 
structed weapons  and  improved  upon  those  in  existence 
during  his  time,  we  may  take  for  granted  that  his  work 
did  not  grow  out  of  a  general  study  but  was  a  definite 
part  of  a  special  project  in  which  he  was  interested  at  the 
time.  All  of  us  owe  the  chief  elements  of  our  education 
to  projects.  For  illustration,  a  man  moves  from  Colo- 
rado to  Washington.  This  move  is  made  the  basis  for 
more  definite  gain  in  knowledge  of  geography,  sociology, 
finance,  and  in  a  dozen  other  special  branches  than  any 
amount  of  logically  arranged  but  unrelated  courses 
could  accomplish.  The  use  of  the  project  is  the  nearest 
the  school  has  come  to  connecting  education  with  every- 
day life. 

The  Part  Projects  Have  Played  in  the  Development  of 
Great  Men.  It  is  well  worth  our  consideration  that 
eminent  men  have  been  educated  primarily  outside  of 
schools.  Many  of  them  were  failures  in  school.  Any- 
one who  reads  the  lives  of  great  men  will  be  struck  by  the 
part  their  projects  have  played  in  their  education.  Ex- 
amples, selected  from  the  field  of  science  and  typical  of 
the  life  of  any  great  man,  are  given  here : 

Agassiz  received  his  education  chiefly  through  his  own 
investigations  and  projects.  Before  he  was  ten  years 
old  he  had  made  extensive  experiments.  He  studied 
animals,  their  structures,  habits,  and  haunts.  His  proj- 


50         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

ects  ranged  in  extent  from,  the  study  of  living  fishes  in 
a  homemade  aquarium  to  the  observation  and  imitation 
of  mechanics.  At  twelve  he  had  a  collection  of  animals 
and  plants  that  was  famous  throughout  the  country. 

Edward  Drinker  Cope  started  scientific  projects  of 
value  at  the  age  of  seven.  During  a  sea  voyage  to  Bos- 
ton with  his  father  he  kept  a  diary  which  he  filled  with 
drawings  of  "  jelly  fish,  grampuses,  and  other  natural 
objects,  seen  on  the  way.7'  He  was  greatly  attracted 
by  the  museum  of  the  academy  of  natural  sciences  at 
Philadelphia  and  made  drawings  of  a  great  many  of  the 
old  skeletal  remains  before  he  was  nine  years  old.1  Marsh, 
Wyman,  Gray,  and  Newcomb  began  in  a  similar  way. 
Humboldt,  Hugh  Miller,  Jefferies,  and  Audubon  had 
wonderful  collections  and  spent  their  boyhood  gathering 
specimens  and  living  with  nature.  A  friend  of  Audubon 
describes  the  latter 's  room  as  follows :  "  On  entering  the 
room  I  was  surprised  to  find  it  turned  into  a  museum. 
The  walls  were  festooned  with  all  sorts  of  birds'  eggs, 
carefully  blown  and  strung  on  a  string.  The  chimney 
piece  was  adorned  with  stuffed  squirrels,  raccoons,  opos- 
sums, fishes,  frogs,  etc." 

A  laboratory  in  the  cellar,  a  newspaper,  and  a  tele- 
graph line  between  his  home  and  that  of  a  boy  friend 
were  projects  which  played  fundamental  roles  in  the 
education  of  Edison. 

Like  illustrations  from  every  field  of  human  accom- 
plishment could  be  furnished.  The  teacher  need  only 

Jordan,  David  S.    Leading  American  Men  of  Science.    Holt,  1910. 


THE    PROJECT  51 

read  the  biography  of  any  great  man  to  see  the  impor- 
tance of  his  projects  to  his  education  and  success. 

Importance  of  the  Child's  Project.  The  projects  of 
youth  are  more  important  to  education  than  are  those 
of  the  adult.  When  the  habit  of  attacking  situations 
and  following  them  to  successful  solution  is  formed 
early  in  life,  the  individual  rises  to  a  higher  plane  of  en- 
deavor. He  learns  to  go  ahead  without  waiting  for  aid. 
He  uses  the  information  authorities  furnish  him  only 
when  it  works.  Success  in  life  is  closely  associated  with 
the  early  development  of  these  abilities.  A  child  in  the 
sixth  grade  who  has  followed  out  several  good  projects 
probably  has  acquired  valuable  information  and  abilities 
which  ordinary  schooling  could  not  have  developed  in  a 
lifetime.  The  wireless  plant  in  the  physics  department 
of  a  leading  college  was  constructed  by  a  professor  of 
physics  under  the  supervision  of  a  boy  who  had  learned 
what  he  knew  in  the  home  project  of  constructing  one  in 
his  own  back  yard. 

Must  Be  Related  to  the  Lives  of  the  Children.  The 
use  of  artificial  projects  will  not  help  in  the  treatment  of 
any  subject.  The  old  logical  method  is  not  bettered  un- 
less we  put  life  projects  in  its  place.  For  example,  the 
subject  "  water  "  may  be  taken  up  by  a  class  and  all 
sorts  of  interesting  facts  about  it  developed  from  maga- 
zine articles.  If  the  children  are  really  interested  in 
water,  if  it  is  a  life  project,  then  it  will  be  worth  while. 
But  if  it  is  imposed  upon  them  by  the  teacher,  the  time 
had  better  be  spent  in  regular  work. 


52         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Scope  of  Project.  A\e  have  not  as  yet  found  projects 
enough  to  take  the  place  of  regular  class  work.  In  sub- 
jects like  home  economics,  physics,  and  woodwork,  they 
make  up  the  largest  part  of  the  work.  In  English, 
arithmetic,  history,  and  civics  we  find  many  opportuni- 
ties for  projects,  but  not  to  the  extent  that  we  can  do 
away  with  drill  or  mechanical  procedure. 

The  project  is  likely  to  embrace  several  subjects  and 
furnish  a  motive  for  drill,  the  pursuit  of  information, 
and  the  exercise  of  thought  in  motive  and  pursuit.  If 
wisely  employed,  it  is  brought  into  the  school  only  when 
it  will  make  a  sure  contribution  and  stimulate  better 
work.  Whenever  it  is  used  to  the  disadvantage  of  good 
work  in  school,  it  becomes  a  distracting  influence,  and 
the  teacher  must  judge  between  its  value  and  that  of  the 
course  of  study.  Ordinarily  it  is  best  to  stimulate  in- 
dividual home  work  upon  projects  in  addition  to  those 
connected  with  school  studies.  This  does  not  mean  that 
we  are  to  neglect  any  worthy  project  a  child  may  have, 
and  it  must  be  admitted  that  many  of  them  are  more 
educative  than  school  tasks,  but  the  possibilities  of 
their  school  application  are  limited.  As  explained  later 
in  this  chapter,  the  school  must  give  due  recognition  to 
the  educational  value  of  the  work  a  child  does  outside 
of  school  requirements. 

A  wise  use  of  projects  in  the  regular  school  work  re- 
sults in  the  establishment  of  centers  of  investigation. 
Research  may  in  this  way  be  undertaken  in  the  elemen- 
tary school,  and  as  a  result  of  following  out  several  good 


THE    PROJECT  53 

projects  in  addition  to  or  as  a  part  of  a  regular  course  of 
study,  the  children  will  learn  how  to  investigate  for 
themselves.  The  regular  work  is  in  this  way  strength- 
ened because  of  the  greater  interest  of  the  children  and 
the  increased  amount  of  reading  or  other  special  work 
they  do.  When  the  critical  points  in  a  subject  are 
grouped  in  projects,  their  mastery  loses  most  of  its  dif- 
ficulties. 

The  Red  Cross  campaign  which  was  carried  on  in  De- 
cember, 1917,  made  a  splendid  project  for  many  schools. 
Its  history  was  investigated  and  reported  on  by  the  his- 
tory classes.  It  was  made  the  basis  for  oral  and  writ- 
ten composition.  The  children  were  organized  at  school 
and  learned  vital  lessons  in  civics  by  taking  part  in  the 
campaign  to  enlist  members.  Tbe  different  rooms 
bought  memberships.  The  children  in  the  lower  grades 
cut  bandages ;  those  in  the  upper  grades  undertook  more 
difficult  tasks.  Many  schools  that  had  never  used  proj- 
ects and  did  not  know  of  their  vital  educational  sig- 
nificance took  hold  of  the  Red  Cross  idea  and  made  good 
educational  material  of  it.  The  question  is,  when  will 
schools  learn  that  their  communities  and  the  regu  ar  sub- 
jects abound  even  in  ordinary  times  with  projects  just 
as  interesting  as  this  one,  which  can  be  related  even  more 
closely  to  the  work  of  the  school  ? 

Projects  in  which  the  entire  school  may  share,  and 
receive  intellectual  training  at  the  same  time  are : 
Morning  exercises. 
Special  day  programs. 


54         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Making  the  school  more  attractive. 

Creation  and  development  of  museums  and  collec- 
tions. 

Organization  of  the  noon  period. 

Enlistment  of  the  community  for  food  conservation 
(or  other  purposes). 

Beautifying  the  home  town  or  city. 

Projects  in  Special  Subjects 

Woodwork.  In  woodwork  the  project  method  has 
now  almost  universal  adoption,  taking  the  place  of  the 
old  task  method.  The  child  learns  the  handling  and 
care  of  tools,  how  to  construct  joints,  and  all  the  general 
features  of  this  work  by  making  articles  which  are  useful 
to  him.  In  making  a  sled,  for  example,  he  must  study 
models  and  woods  and  submit  his  definite  plan.  He 
then  makes  the  different  parts,  the  runners,  joints, 
and  bindings.  Each  day  he  cares  for  his  tools  and  bench 
and  leaves  them  in  good  order.  The  teacher's  function 
is  to  see  that  his  powers  are  fully  exercised,  that 
the  project  is  not  too  difficult,  yet  furnishes  the  exer- 
cise to  develop  the  abilities  for  which  the  course  was 
designed. 

Mechanics.  In  the  upper  grades  many  schools  are 
offering  courses  in  mechanics  embodying  work  with 
metals,  the  principles  of  physics,  and  some  chemistry.  A 
report  of  several  individual  children  from  a  class  in  this 
subject  in  which  projects  were  made  the  basis  of  the 
work  is  given  for  illustration. 


THE   PROJECT  55 

Report  of  Eighth-Grade  Class  in  Physics 

1.  General  attitude  of  teacher. 

We  give  such  a  course  in  order  to  instruct  the  boys 
in  the  practical  value  of  physics.  A  law  is  brought  up  when 
the  time  comes  to  use  it.  The  pupil  reasons  things  out  for 
himself  with  an  occasional  suggestion  from  the  teacher. 

These  boys  covered  in  their  three  months'  work  the 
following : 

The  fundamental  principles  of  electricity,  some  me- 
chanics, heat,  and  sound. 

2.  The  attitude  of  the  class. 

The  class  is  very  enthusiastic  as  a  whole.  Discipline 
is  easily  brought  about  by  threatening  to  dismiss  a  boy  from 
class.  Several  of  the  boys  liked  to  put  in  extra  time. 

3.  Report  of  the  work  of  each  individual. 

B.  F.  :  Made  a  thermostat  which  took  up  the  expansion 
of  metals,  the  conductivity  of  metals,  etc.     Made  an  electric 
toaster ;  in  this  he  worked  out  a  new  type  in  vertical  elements, 
and  the  toast  is  held  in  place  by  springs.     In  this  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  length  of  wire  to  heat  required,  insulation,  and 
heat  through  resistance  were  involved.     He  did  considerable 
shop   work,    such   as    cleaning   and    repairing.     His    attitude 
was  quiet,  thoughtful,  diligent,  and  he  showed  a  desire  to  do 
the  best  work  at  all  times. 

C.  B. :  Made  a  candy  floss  machine  that  made  excel- 
lent floss,  and  he  was  called  upon  to  demonstrate  it  to  college 
classes.     Made  an  electric  switch,   a  telegraph  key,   and  an 
electric  toaster.     The  principles  involved  in  his  work  were 
centrifugal   and    centripetal   forces,  gearing,  wheel  and  axle, 
insulation,  conduction,  and  connections.     He  was  sometimes 
not  so  interested  as  he  might  have  been.     At  the  time  of  the 
floss  machine  he  showed  greatest  interest.     Is  making  a  water 
motor  to  use  at  home  with  the  floss  machine. 


56         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

C.  G. :  Made  a  thermostat,  electric  toaster,  and  an 
electric  switch.  He  is  slow  to  finish  up  things.  He  is  espe- 
cially interested  in  working  around  the  gas  flame  and  some 
work  of  that  nature  is  being  prepared  for  him.  Behavior  good. 

G.  R. :  Made  a  vibrator  whistle,  a  toaster,  a  switch, 
and  a  telegraph  key.  The  vibrator  was  the  only  thing  he 
made  that  involved  principles  not  already  stated  for  other 
boys.  This  boy  is  not  so  much  interested  in  machinery  as 
he  is  in  construction.  He  does  not  like  to  use  his  head.  Books 
have  been  furnished  him,  but  he  can  find  nothing  in  them  that 
he  wants  to  make. 

E.  I. :  Made  a  thermostat,  two  toasters,  a  telegraph 
key,  a  wireless  outfit,  a  wireless  detector.  His  work  has  been 
especially  good.  Works  fast  and  accurately.  He  will  spend 
extra  time  whenever  he  has  the  opportunity.  His  lathe  work 
is  very  good.  In  other  subjects  he  is  fair,  and  none  of  the 
teachers  of  the  regular  school  subjects  would  have  imagined 
that  he  would  work  very  hard  at  anything. 

H.  S. :  Repaired  an  old  motor  that  he  already  had, 
made  a  steam  engine  that  would  run,  and  is  now  working  on 
a  Meccano  set  for  his  younger  brother.  The  steam  engine 
involved  quite  a  few  of  the  principles  of  heat  and  mechanics. 
His  behavior  has  been  very  good,  and  he  shows  independence 
and  ability  to  reason  out  things  for  himself.  In  his  regular 
school  work  he  had  often  been  hard  to  discipline. 

Special  extra  work :  The  boys  made  Christmas  pres- 
ents. One  boy  spent  evenings  and  nights  for  a  considerable 
time  working  on  an  electric  toaster  for  his  aunt.  Some  of 
the  toasters  were  superior  to  those  that  the  retail  dealer  charged 
from  three  to  four  dollars  for.  The  materials  cost  about 
thirty  cents. 

Along  with  this  work  the  boys  read  widely  in  books 
and    magazines    on    mechanics.     They    were    furnished 


THE   PROJECT  57 

with  a  large  number  of  references,  and  it  was  not  found 
necessary  to  require  that  they  read  them.  It  was  hard 
to  keep  them  from  reading  and  discussing  physics  during 
other  periods.  The  amount  of  information  they  gath- 
ered outside  that  necessary  to  the  construction  work 
made  a  valuable  addition  to  the  results  of  the  course. 

Why  are  junior-  and  senior-high-school  general  science 
and  physics  so  often  taught  in  a  dead  and  uninteresting 
manner  when  such  live  projects  in  these  subjects  are  to 
be  met  at  every  hand  ?  What  boy  who  can  make  a  wire- 
less outfit,  or  who  is  allowed  to  fix  his  bicycle  as  a  part  of 
his  regular  physics,  would  not  like  the  study? 

History.  A  project  in  history  may  be  of  such  nature 
as  to  provide  work  for  the  entire  class,  or  it  may  be 
purely  individual.  The  history  of  Thanksgiving,  Christ- 
mas, and  other  holidays,  the  life  of  a  great  man,  or  an 
ordinary  topic,  such  as  the  settlement  of  the  Northwest, 
or  adjustment  of  the  nation  to  the  present  war  condi- 
tions, may  serve  as  a  project  for  investigation  which 
would  be  preferred  by  the  class  to  regular  course-of-study 
work.  A  teacher  may  be  able  so  to  organize  the  course 
of  study  into  interesting  projects  that  nothing  will  be 
missed. 

The  following  is  an  illustration  of  the  Colonial  period 
taught  through  projects : 

The  names  of  the  leading  characters  are  compiled 
by  the  teacher,  and  sources  of  information  about  them  are 
collected.  The  following  make  a  good  list:  Miles  Standish, 
John  Smith,  James  Oglethorpe,  Lord  Baltimore,  Jefferson, 


58         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Madison,    Monroe,    Washington,    Edmund   Randolph,    Roger 
Williams,  Stuyvesant,  Penn. 

The  following  topics  are  compiled  and  references 
on  each  topic  noted  : 

Family  life  in  the  colonies. 

Political  life  in  the  colonies. 

North  American  Indians. 

The  work  of  the  French. 

The  work  of  the  English. 

The  Catholics. 

The  Puritans. 

Each  of  the  colonies. 

Education  in  the  colonies. 

Relation  between  the  colonies  and  England. 

As  the  work  progresses,  the  teacher  finds  opportunity 
to  suggest  or  allow  (it  is  better  to  allow  than  suggest)  different 
individuals  or  groups  to  specialize  upon  one  of  the  characters 
or  topics.  Before  the  course  is  completed,  every  member 
of  the  class  reads  the  life  of  some  eminent  man  and  looks  up 
data  on  one  of  the  special  topics.  Some  of  the  children  read 
several  biographies  and  investigate  several  topics.  All  of  the 
class  listen  to  these  special  reports  and  discuss  them. 

The  opportunity  for  a  project  is  likely  to  come  acci- 
dentally and  without  notice.  For  this  reason  it  is  bet- 
ter for  the  teacher  to  have  material  like  the  above  ready 
to  suggest  at  the  proper  moment.  With  stimulating 
teaching  a  boy  is  very  likely  to  want  to  know  more  about 
John  Smith  than  the  ordinary  lesson  gives  him.  When 
his  questions  indicate  that  the  psychological  moment 
has  arrived,  the  teacher  should  be  ready  to  allow  him  to 
read  and  report  on  the  life  of  Smith  for  his  regular  his- 


THE   PROJECT  59 

tory  lesson.  On  the  appointed  day  he  gives  a  ten  minute 
recitation  in  his  best  English.  When  a  group  of  chil- 
dren make  a  special  investigation,  an  entire  recitation 
period  may  be  turned  over  to  them  with  profit. 

A  group  of  sixth-grade  children  after  making  a 
study  of  "  Life  in  the  Virginia  Colony  "  finished  their 
project  by  dramatizing  and  playing  it  before  the  entire 
school. 

The  following  books  were  read  as  projects  in  history 
by  an  eighth-grade  boy.  He  reported  on  each  before 
the  class. 

The  Life  of  Lincoln  —  Project,  Pioneer  Life  and  the 
Development  of  a  Great  Man. 

The  Life  of  General  Butler  —  Project,  A  Participant  of 
the  Civil  War. 

The  Story  of  ^Eneas —  Project,  Semi-mythical  History. 

The  Story  of  the  Moors  —  Project,  Religious  Strife. 

Winning  the  Northwest  —  Project  in  Itself. 

Hugh  Wynne  —  Project,  Individual  Life  During  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

Geography.  Geography  furnishes  many  projects  and 
may  be  organized  about  the  special  interests  and  investi- 
gations of  the  children  to  such  an  extent  that  a  regular 
course  of  study  may  be  covered  without  bothering  with 
any  artificially  arranged  order.  Fourth-grade  geog- 
raphy, organized  into  projects  and  based  upon  ordinary 
textbooks  such  as  Tarr  and  McMurry  or  Brigham  and 
McFarlane,  is  given  here  for  illustration. 

The  following  topics  are  selected  as  centers  of  interest. 


60         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Food,  Clothing,  and  Shelter 
Industries 

The  Earth  as  a  Whole  ™ 

These  topics  make  up 
Land  \. 

,TT  }      the  ordinary  course 

Water  .    . 

. .  of  study. 

Air 

Climate 
Maps 

The  teacher  has  in  mind  that  these  subjects  are  to  be  cov- 
ered by  the  class.  She  organizes  them  into  projects  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner. 

Discussion  is  started  on  each  topic  by  bringing  up  some- 
thing interesting  to  the  children.     The  text  is  not  brought 
into  the  work  in  the  treatment  of  any  topic  until  it  can  be 
made  use  of  to  satisfy  the  pupils'  wants.     It  is  referred  to 
continually  in  supplying  information  for  which  their  projects 
call.     They  read  all  of  it  several  different  times,  each  time 
in  relation  to  a  different  basic  interest.     Many  other  sources 
of  information  are  used. 
Illustration : 
Clothing. 

The  clothes  of  the  children  made  the  basis. 
It  is  found  that  wool,  cotton,  silk,  and  leather  are 
represented. 

The  question  of  where  these  came  from  is  brought  up. 
Also  the  question,  how  they  came  to  their   present 
state. 

When  the  class  is  desirous  of  investigating  the  matter 
further,  the  pages  in  the  geography  on  which  information 
is  given  are  referred  to,  and  the  project  is  to  obtain  all  the 
information  they  can  concerning  their  clothing.  The  informa- 
tion in  the  book  does  not  begin  to  satisfy  a  class  which  has 
been  properly  stimulated. 


THE   PROJECT  61 

Further  illustration : 
Maps. 

The  ordinary  course  of  study  demands  that  the  children 
learn  the  basic  principles  of  reading  maps  in  the  fourth  grade. 

Map  making  and  reading  makes  a  fine  project.  The 
teacher  begins  without  reference  to  the  maps  in  the  books. 
The  plan  is  to  ask  the  children  to  locate  something  in  a  room 
so  that  some  one  could  go  to  the  room  and  find  it.  This  fur- 
nishes a  splendid  game.  After  learning  how  to  represent  the 
different  parts  of  their  own  room  in  diagrams,  they  go  to  the 
school  yard  and  then  to  their  home  town  and  community. 

This  furnishes  a  background  for  the  question  of  the 
representation  of  distant  places,  the  home  country,  and  the 
continent.  The  children  have  become  so  interested  in  their 
project  of  representing  places  to  each  other  that  they  take 
up  the  maps  in  the  book  as  a  regular  part  of  their  interest. 

Having  developed  in  their  game  of  representation 
all  the  basic  features  of  map  making,  such  as  scales  and  color- 
ation, they  never  suffer  from  the  misconceptions  which  children 
so  often  acquire  due  to  the  confusion  of  the  map  with  the 
place  it  represents. 

There  is  a  distinct  advantage  to  the  teacher  in  plan- 
ning the  entire  course  he  has  to  cover  in  relation  to  pos- 
sible projects.  The  plan  of  the  year  is  constantly  before 
him,  and  the  difficult  parts  of  the  work  can  be  made 
centers  for  projects.  Their  special  difficulty  is  in  this 
way  eliminated.  As  mentioned  before,  the  ordinary 
course  of  study  is  found  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  children  when  they  attack  it  in  an  intelligent  man- 
ner. The  teacher  finds  that,  instead  of  being  pushed  for 
time  in  which  to  cover  what  is  required  in  the  course,  it 


62         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

is  difficult  to  provide  enough  subject  matter  to  keep  the 
class  satisfied. 

Projects  in  Nature  Study.  Nature  study  should  be 
taught  by  the  project  method.  The  teacher  has  an 
initial  advantage  in  this  subject  in  that  he  will  not  be 
hindered  by  logically  arranged  textbooks.  There  are 
few  texts  in  use,  and  the  one  which  has  had  the  widest 
circulation  is  distinctly  on  the  project  order.1 

Illustrative  projects  in  this  subject  are : 

1.  The  arrival  of  the   birds  in  the   spring   (any  or  all 
grades) . 

Constant  watch  for  the  first  arrival  of  each  kind  with 
reports  at  school. 

A  study  of  the  habits  of  some  of  these  (both  from 
books  or  magazine  articles  and  from  life). 
Their  nests. 
Eggs. 
Food  and  methods  of  finding  it.     (Watch  them.) 

Value  to  man  of  the  insects  they  destroy. 
How  they  care  for  their  young. 

2.  Mushrooms.     (Intermediate  or  upper  grades.) 

Children  collect  the  different  kinds  and  bring  them  to 
school  for  identification. 

Read  of  the  poisonous  nature  of  some  and  methods  of 
detecting  these. 

Make  the  spore  test  and  others  at  school.  (Each 
child  should  be  allowed  to  make  the  test.) 

Survey  the  community  and  teach  the  children  to  tell 
each  edible  variety ;  warn  them  of  the  danger  lurking  in  ones 
which  to  all  outward  circumstances  appear  innocent. 

1  Hodge,  C.  F.     Nature  Study  and  Life. 


THE    PROJECT  63 

3.   Snakes.     (Any  or  all  grades.) 

Catch  the  different  non-poisonous  varieties  and 
bring  them  to  school.  The  teacher  should  illustrate  that 
they  are  not  dangerous. 

Make  a  study  in  books  and  magazines  of  the  value  of 
snakes,  toads,  and  lizards  to  man. 

Teach  the  children  how  to  tell  the  poisonous  kinds, 
and  ascertain  which  of  these  are  found  in  the  local  community. 

Other  live  and  interesting  projects  may  be  found 
in  the  study  of  hundreds  of  varieties  of  wild  life  found  in  the 
home  community,  and  concerning  which  the  public  library 
will  furnish  plenty  of  material  in  books  and  magazine  articles, 
which  may  be  related  to  the  children  of  the  lower  grades, 
read  to  those  in  the  intermediate  grades,  and  read  by  those 
in  the  upper  grades. 

Home  Projects 

Educational  Value  of  Home  Life.  When  the  final  test 
of  the  efficiency  in  life  of  a  given  individual  is  applied,  it 
is  usually  found  that  his  life  outside  of  school  was  a 
larger  factor  in  the  development  of  vital  abilities  than 
his  schooling.  The  child  spends  approximately  one  third 
of  the  time  he  is  awake  in  school.  Presuming  that 
everything  he  does  there  is  of  great  educational  value, 
the  one  third  of  his  life  spent  in  school  is  not  likely  to 
have  as  much  influence  upon  him  as  the  two  thirds 
spent  outside.  When  we  remember  that  most  children 
live  a  more  active,  aggressive  life  outside  of  school  than 
inside,  the  dominance  of  the  home  and  community  life 
in  their  education  cannot  be  doubted. 

Many  individuals  succeed  in  life  with  little  or  no  school- 
ing. We  find  such  persons,  highly  educated  both  tech- 


64         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

nically  and  academically,  playing  leading  roles  in  every 
walk  of  life.  In  fact,  it  is  a  common  occurrence  to  find 
school-trained  men  living  neighbors  to  others  who  have 
had  practically  no  schooling,  the  latter  being  more  suc- 
cessful in  their  respective  vocations,  reading  more  and 
better  books,  and  leading  a  larger  life  socially.  This 
need  not  indicate  that  the  school  has  been  a  failure,1  but 
such  occurrences  demonstrate  the  value  of  the  forms  of 
education  which  are  found  outside  of  schools. 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  every  individual,  whether 
he  is  a  success  cr  a  failure,  is  self-made.  Those  who 
have  good  schools  to  attend  have  an  advantage ;  those 
who  have  good  homes  are  even  more  fortunate ;  but  those 
who  are  trained  under  the  proper  school-home  stimulus 
and  guidance  have  an  ideal  educational  environment. 
To  the  extent  that  the  school  enlarges  the  everyday  life 
of  the  child,  it  will  be  successful  in  truly  educating  him. 
What  he  gets  there  must  be  a  part  of  him ;  he  must  try  to 
assimilate  and  use  it.  In  order  to  bring  this  about,  the 
school  must  reach  beyond  the  five  and  one  half  hours  of 
its  daily  program  and  become  an  organizing  and  stimu- 
lating factor  in  the  entire  life  of  the  child. 

Recognition  of  Home  Work  by  the  School.  In  the  past 
the  school  has  been  too  exclusive.  It  placed  too  much 
stress  upon  where  and  under  what  regulations  an  achieve- 
ment was  made.  The  actual  educational  value  of  the  work 

1  Studies  show  that  the  school-trained  man  usually  excels,  but  this  is 
true  only  if  he  is  a  student  in  life  also.  Many  well-schooled  men  fail 
because  they  do  not  grow  beyond  their  schooling. 


THE   PROJECT  65 

an  individual  did  was  not  made  the  basis  of  recognition. 
In  fact,  schools  constantly  ignored  everything  that  was 
not  done  within  four  brick  walls  and  under  a  prescribed 
course  of  study.  In  some  places  it  was  the  custom  to  use 
the  energies  of  the  school  to  belittle  good  work  done  out- 
side of  its  sphere  of  influence.  Only  recently  have  school 
authorities  come  to  evaluate  properly  home  and  com- 
munity work  in  their  schemes  of  crediting  the  individual 
with  educational  progress. 

The  modern  school  realizes  that  a  child's  home  work 
is  not  a  disturbing  factor  in  his  education,  but  that  it  is 
part  of  his  training  even  more  important  than  school 
work.  Teachers  used  to  remonstrate  with  parents  for 
providing  too  much  for  their  children  to  do  outside  of 
school.  To-day  we  realize  that  the  boy  who  must  milk 
and  care  for  a  cow  and  the  girl  who  must  help  manage 
and  take  care  of  a  home  are  provided  with  educational 
gold  mines  which  may  be  worth  far  more  as  stabilizing 
influences  and  agencies  of  development  than  many  of 
the  tasks  performed  in  school. 

In  recognizing  home  work  and  utilizing  it  in  the  child's 
education,  the  school  faces  a  many-sided  problem.  Any 
scheme  is  better  than  ignoring  it,,  but  the  proper  corre- 
lation of  home  and  school  work  is  no  easy  task. 

Methods  of  Recognition.  Three  definite  ways  of 
recognizing  home  work  have  been  developed  by  school 
authorities.  They  may  be  described  as  follows : 

1.  Work  at  home  is  made  a  substitute  for  and  is  al- 
lowed to  take  the  place  of  school  work.  This  method 


66         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

was  first  developed  by  Superintendent  Alderman  of 
Oregon.  He  noted  that  many  children  were  living  prac- 
tically useless  home  lives.  It  was  difficult  to  get  them  to 
do  their  school  work,  and  in  conferring  with  parents  he 
found  that  they  were  making  every  possible  sacrifice  and 
doing  all  the  work  at  home  themselves  in  order  that  their 
children  might  have  their  time  for  advancement  in  school. 

Concluding  that  work,  like  charity,  is  best  when  it  be- 
gins in  the  home,  he  set  about  devising  a  means  of  stimu- 
lating home  work.  He  talked  the  matter  over  with  the 
children,  and  they  agreed  that  everyone  should  help  at 
home.  Following  this  he  began  to  substitute  the  per- 
formance of  home  tasks  for  portions  of  regular  assign- 
ments at  school.  When  the  regular  algebra  lesson  had 
been  ten  problems,  he  cut  it  down  to  five  and  substituted 
five  home  tasks  for  the  other  problems.  He  claims  that 
the  immediate  result  was  better  work  both  at  home  and 
at  school. 

However,  experience  has  shown  that  Alderman's 
rather  spectacular  results  will  not  continue  after  the 
spell  of  newness  has  worn  off  and  the  substitution  of 
these  home  tasks  for  school  work  becomes  a  part  of  the 
regular  program.  In  doing  away  with  a  part  of  the 
school  assignments  we  admit  that  they  were  not  neces- 
sary. Either  the  subject  is  not  worth  requiring,  or  the 
amount  of  work  we  have  been  giving  in  it  is  more  than 
is  necessary  to  provide  for  proper  advancement.  But 
when  we  properly  select  our  subject  matter  in  the  school, 
it  is  impossible  to  substitute  home  tasks  for  it.  If  a  child 


THE   PROJECT  67 

cannot  read,  he  will  not  be  helped  by  being  allowed  to 
split  kindling  at  home  in  place  of  reading.  It  will  not  be 
advantageous  to  add  to  his  reading  credit  for  home  work 
not  connected  with  reading.  There  must  be  some  better 
method  of  recognizing  home  work. 

2.  A  second  method  is  to  add  home  work  to  the  regu- 
lar school  list  of  subjects.  Cards  are  sent  home  at  regu- 
lar intervals.  The  parents  fill  them  out  with  state- 
ments of  the  number  of  hours  the  children  have  spent  in 
the  performance  of  different  home  tasks.  ''  Home 
work  "  is  given  a  place  on  the  report  card  and  the  grade 
in  it  is  used  along  with  those  in  the  regular  school  sub- 
jects in  calculating  the  child's  general  average,  which  is 
made  the  basis  of  his  promotion. 

This  method  has  advantages  over  that  of  substituting 
home  work  for  that  of  the  school.  Definite  recognition 
is  given  any  work  a  child  may  do  at  home.  By  stimu- 
lating home  work  and  giving  it  a  place  on  the  report 
card  along  with  the  work  of  the  school  we  dignify  and 
elevate  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  children.  Some  recognition 
of  this  type  must  be  retained. 

There  are  some  conditions  which  make  this  method 
inadequate  to  meet  the  situation.  The  work  of  the 
school  is  to  educate.  It  must  do  more  than  recognize. 
When  we  record  that  a  child  has  spent  thirty-seven  hours 
helping  her  mother  at  home  and  give  her  a  grade  for  this 
work,  we  are  not  allowing  for  the  factor  of  improvement. 
She  may  be  doing  it  as  so  much  drudgery  and  in  the  most 
slovenly  and  disadvantageous  manner.  In  merely  re- 


68         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

cording  a  grade  on  the  basis  of  so  many  hours,  the  school 
may  be  confirming  her  in  slovenly  work.  This  problem 
becomes  more  prominent  as  the  months  and  years  pass 
by  and  the  school  continues  to  give  a  child  a  grade  for 
the  same  routine  work.  Some  definite  means  should  be 
employed  to  stimulate  the  child  to  improve  his  outside 
work  and  educate  himself  by  it.  Also,  the  work  of  the 
school  and  that  of  the  home  are  not  properly  correlated 
by  this  method.  It  is  a  decided  step  in  advance  over 
the  old  method  of  sacrificing  the  home  life  for  the  school, 
but  it  does  not  go  far  enough. 

3.  The  modern  method  is  that  of  the  school-home  proj- 
ect. The  school  in  this  way  not  only  stimulates  home 
work  but  provides  for  its  improvement  and  organization. 
If  a  boy  cares  for  a  cow  at  home,  the  school,  by  stimu- 
lating this  work  as  a  project,  makes  it  one  of  the  most 
valuable  educational  features  of  his  life.  The  work  is 
made  much  more  interesting  to  the  boy  when  he  finds 
that  his  old  drudgery  and  routine  is  only  one  phase  of 
a  many-sided  project  which  is  interesting  at  home  and 
may  be  made  a  part  of  his  school  work. 

Methods  of  Organizing  School-Home  Projects 

Survey.  In  order  to  secure  a  basis  for  successful  or- 
ganization, the  teacher  should  first  of  all  make  a  survey 
of  the  projects  that  are  possible  in  his  community.  The 
interests  and  home  duties  of  each  child  are  tabulated. 
The  data  obtained  in  this  way  is  made  the  center  of  a 
school-home  campaign. 


THE   PROJECT  69 

The  following  home  activities  were  tabulated  for  the 
sixth  grade  in  the  month  of  January  at  the  University 
Heights  Elementary  School,  Seattle,  Washington. 

Reading  books.  Housework.  Delivering  papers. 

Piano  lessons.  Care  of  pets.  Violin  lessons. 

Knitting.  Making  toys.  Going  to  movies. 

Work  on  farm.  Swimming.  Growing  flowers. 

Making  clothes.  Collections.  Caring  for  live  stock. 

Making  quilt.  Care  of  furnace.  Chopping  wood. 

Clubs.  Saving  money.  Mechanical  drawing. 

Painting.  Home  games.  Art  work. 
Carpenter  work. 

How  to  Deal  with  These  Projects.  After  the  teacher 
knows  what  boys  and  girls  are  interested  in  outside  of 
school  work,  his  task  is  to  have  each  child  concentrate 
upon  one  or  several  of  his  interests  and  make  reports  of 
progress  in  them.  Any  of  the  interests  noted  in  the  fore- 
going sixth-grade  survey  may  amount  to  very  little  if 
allowed  to  go  along  without  any  attention.  Most  of  them 
may  be  developed  into  very  vital  and  dominating  fea- 
tures of  the  child's  life  if  the  teacher  will  pay  some  atten- 
tion to  and  encourage  them.  Usually  he  can  refer  the 
child  to  books  or  articles  which  will  help  in  carrying  on 
the  project.  He  can  show  how  to  make  the  interest 
worth  while,  and  he  can  keep  up  interest  so  that  much 
more  will  be  accomplished  than  if  the  project  had  not 
been  given  recognition. 

Thus  Reading  Books  becomes  a  project  of  Reading  as 
Many  Good  Books  as  Possible  During  the  Term.  The 


70         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

child  reports  on  them  to  the  teacher,  who  mentions  other 
good  books  to  him.  He  knows  that  the  teacher  is  in- 
terested in  his  reading  during  the  entire  term,  wants 
regular  reports  about  it,  and  will  always  be  glad  to  hear 
about  it.  He  knows  that  his  grades  will  be  affected  by 
the  way  he  goes  at  this  project. 

Painting  or  carpenter  work  after  school  hours,  instead 
of  being  done  in  a  haphazard  fashion  and  only  to  while 
away  the  time,  becomes  a  live  issue  when  taken  by  a  child 
as  his  home  project.  He  becomes  a  student  of  painting. 
He  learns  of  the  different  kinds  of  paints.  He  notes 
painters  at  work :  sees  how  many  brushes  they  use,  how 
they  hold  the  brush,  how  they  mix  their  paints,  what  they 
do  to  boards  before  they  paint  them,  etc.  He  follows 
carpentry  in  the  same  way. 

I  have  seen  boys  learn  almost  everything  there  is  to 
learn  about  a  trade  by  following  it  as  a  home  project  for 
several  years.  For  a  project  a  boy  learned  enough  to 
paint  his  father's  house  in  such  a  way  that  the  paint  out- 
lasted that  put  on  by  regular  painters.  He  followed  this 
by  contracting  painting  during  a  summer.  Other  proj- 
ects may  be  developed  in  the  same  way. 

Illustration  of  a  School-Home  Project  in  Detail. 
The  following  is  the  story  of  how  one  child  was  stimu- 
lated by  his  teacher  to  take  care  of  a  pen  of  chickens  as 
a  home-school  project. 

J—  -  reported  in  a  seventh-grade  class  that  he  was  caring 
for  chickens  at  home,  and  that  he  would  like  to  work  with 
them  as  a  project  which  would  receive  recognition  at  school. 


THE   PROJECT  71 

He  had  eight  hens  and  a  rooster.  He  was  feeding  scraps 
and  some  grain.  He  knew  little  or  nothing  about  chickens 
or  their  care,  had  read  nothing  about  them,  did  not  know  the 
values  of  the  different  kinds  of  stock,  and  knew  nothing  of 
feeding  for  greater  egg-laying. 

For  two  years  he  kept  chickens  as  a  project.  In  that 
time  he  read  widely  in  books  and  magazines.  The  class 
visited  his  home  several  times.  Any  child  who  wanted  to 
know  anything  about  chickens  usually  went  to  J for  in- 
formation. He  took  great  pride  in  his  knowledge  and  accom- 
plishments. 

The  teacher  told  him  to  write  to  the  State  Agricultural 
College  for  reading  and  information.  It  was  not  far  from  his 
home  and  he  made  a  trip  there  to  see  the  chickens  they  had 
and  to  talk  with  the  "  authorities "  about  chickens. 

In  his  own  pen  there  was  gradually  produced  a  great 
change.  He  found  that  none  of  his  chickens  were  of  good 
stock,  that  two  hens  did  not  lay  at  all,  and  that  the  feed 
he  was  using  was  not  the  right  kind  for  laying  hens.  He 
sold  his  old  stock.  He  learned  to  buy  pullets  in  order  to 
get  eggs  in  the  winter.  He  sprouted  oats  in  the  cellar  at 
his  home  in  order  to  have  green  food  in  the  winter.  He  re- 
constructed his  pen  and  house  to  make  them  warmer.  He 
kept  a  definite  daily  record.  He  learned  how  to  make 
chickens  "pay." 

During  the  entire  time  he  had  a  large  and  vital  interest. 
He  would  often  hurry  home  from  school  to  learn  how  his 
chickens  were  doing  and  in  order  to  work  about  his  pens. 
He  soon  knew  different  poultry  magazines  and  read  them. 
He  knew  every  chicken  ranch  within  several  miles.  He 
competed  at  shows  and  won  several  prizes.  The  monthly 
footings  of  one  of  his  account  books  are  given  here  for 
illustration. 


72         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Purchased  on  Sept.  14th,  4  hens  for  which  I  paid  $3.00. 

Account  for  Sept.  Paid  $3.00  for  hens 

Gain,  1  egg,  Value  $0.02  .50  for  feed. 

October 
Hens'  gain  33  eggs  @  30cts. 

per  doz.  .82     Paid  feed  1.95 

1  doz.  pullets  6.00 

November 
Hens  gain  12  eggs  @  40  cts.        .  Paid  grits  0.25 

December 
Hens  gain  20  eggs  @  40  cts.       0.67      Paid  feed  1.60 

January 
Hens'  gain  133  eggs  @  40  cts.    4.40      Paid.    No  feed  purchased 

February 
Hens  gain  160  eggs  ©  30  cts.    4.00      Paid  feed  1.80 

Definite  School  Time.  At  least  one  school  period  per 
month  should  be  given  over  to  reports  by  the  children  on 
their  home  projects;  and  a  period  every  two  weeks  can 
often  be  used  to  advantage.  Great  interest  in  these  re- 
ports should  be  shown  by  the  teacher,  and  whenever  possi- 
ble the  child  should  be  encouraged  to  bring  sample  prod- 
ucts with  his  report. 

A  record  should  be  kept  of  each  project  undertaken, 
and  written  and  oral  reports  required  concerning  its 
progress.  The  teacher  and  the  entire  school  may  some- 
times go  to  the  child's  home  to  see  some  interesting  de- 
velopment. Bees  swarming,  a  brood  of  chickens  of  a 
special  variety,  an  unusually  good  garden  or  lawn,  or  a 
wireless  apparatus  may  make  profitable  such  a  visit. 
These  excursions  are  always  followed  by  awakened  in- 


THE   PROJECT  73 

terest  on  the  part  of  the  children  who  made  the  call  and 
also  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  whose  project  was  good 
enough  to  be  visited. 

The  great  problem  is  to  keep  the  child  interested  until 
he  reaches  the  place  where  his  project  is  of  educational 
value  to  him.  If  he  starts  a  garden,  for  example,  he  is 
likely  to  lose  interest  after  ten  days  or  a  couple  of  weeks. 
The  definite  school  attention  given  his  project  will  help 
overcome  the  laziness  and  lack  of  persistence  of  the 
average  child.  When  the  atmosphere  of  home  achieve- 
ment is  made  to  pervade  the  school  and  is  kept  there 
throughout  the  year,  good  results  are  bound  to  follow. 
We  must  make  this  work  a  vital  part  of  our  teaching 
and  must  not  fear  to  give  it  regular  school  time  if  it  is  to 
succeed.  Its  value  in  the  proper  development  of  chil- 
dren is  so  great  that  any  amount  of  time  properly  spent 
in  this  way  will  not  be  wasted. 

Exhibits.  A  method  which  is  certain  to  stimulate  home 
projects  is  to  have  several  exhibits  of  combined  school  and 
home  work  during  the  year.  One  in  the  middle  of  the  year 
and  one  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  one  every  three  months 
will  provide  good  stimulus.  A  single  exhibit  at  the  end 
of  the  year  is  not  worth  much,  for  school  being  out,  the 
spirit  created  results  in  no  action.  The  exhibit  in  the 
middle  of  the  year  will  afford  suggestions  to  the  school 
and  the  community  which  will  be  carried  out  in  prep- 
aration for  another  one  coming.  Those  who  have 
shown  good  results  will  be  encouraged  to  do  even  better 
in  order  to  reveal  improvement;  and  those  who  have  not 


74         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

been  able  to  do  very  much  will  receive  suggestions  from 
this  first  exhibit. 

There  is  a  special  advantage  in  having  children  to- 
gether after  an  exhibit  of  this  kind ;  they  talk  for 
weeks  about  the  different  objects  of  interest,  and  teach 
each  other  how  to  succeed  at  the  various  projects. 
The  greatest  excitement  I  ever  saw  among  school  chil- 
dren was  caused  by  a  home  school  exhibit  given  in  the 
middle  of  the  year  by  the  training  school  at  Greeley, 
Colorado.  The  materials  were  brought  Thursday  eve- 
ning and  Friday  morning.  The  different  grades  appointed 
committees  to  arrange  their  space,  and  the  children  and 
people  of  the  town  were  admitted  Friday  afternoon  and 
Saturday.  Interest  was  so  great  and  enthusiasm  ran  so 
high  that  some  of  the  teachers  voted  against  a  second 
exhibit  because  they  thought  it  would  cause  "  over- 
stimulation."  Any  teacher  who  will  carefully  organize 
his  school  and  community  and  carry  out  two  or  three  of 
these  exhibits  during  the  year  will  be  fully  convinced  of 
the  power  of  this  method  to  generate  interest. 

If  prizes  are  given,  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
rivalry  and  jealousy.  It  is  better  to  give  a  large  number 
of  inexpensive  awards  than  a  few  that  are  costly.  The 
task  of  organizing  the  prize  system  in  a  way  that  will 
avoid  injustice  and  the  resulting  dissatisfaction  is  a  dif- 
ficult one,  and  unless  plenty  of  time  can  be  given  to  it, 
it  may  be  better  to  have  the  exhibits  without  awards. 
Exhibits  succeed  well  either  way. 


CHAPTER  IV 
MOTIVES 

IN  bringing  children  to  the  place  where  they  under- 
stand that  school  work  is  provided  for  their  benefit  and 
is  not  imposed  upon  them,  the  modern  school  has  made 
it  possible  to  teach  a  great  deal  more  in  the  same  time 
than  did  the  traditional  school.  The  subject  matter  that 
is  taught  is  also  more  effective  in  fitting  the  child  for  life. 
Thus  a  double  gain  has  been  brought  about  by  motivation. 

Satisfying  Needs 

Some  Problems  in  Satisfying  Needs.  The  funda- 
mental feature  in  motivating  school  work  for  children 
is  to  select  subject  matter  in  accordance  with  their  needs 
and  to  show  them  that  they  need  it.  There  are  three 
definite  problems  which  the  teacher  must  face  in  doing 
this. 

1.  He  must  constantly  study  his  class.  Each  group 
of  children  will  present  its  special  problem  for  the  live 
teacher.  Until  he  has  made  a  survey  of  their  capacities, 
he  cannot  proceed  with  his  instruction.  His  course  may 
be  before  him,  but  he  knows  that  much  time  will  be 
wasted  and  many  children  may  be  turned  against  the  sub- 
ject or  receive  a  bad  start  if  he  plunges  them  into  it  with- 

75 


76         MODERN    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

out  first  adjusting  it  to  their  needs.  The  first  problem 
is  to  make  a  survey  of  the  class.  Following  this  a  con- 
stant study  of  the  different  individuals  will  be  necessary. 
The  human  beings  we  teach  must  ever  be  kept  in  mind 
when  we  plan  the  work  they  are  to  do. 

2.  The  course  of  study  should  first  of  all  provide  for 
the  definite  needs  of  those  who  are  to  follow  its  require- 
ments, but  it  must  also  be  constantly  readjusted  in  ac- 
cordance with  these  needs.     The  teacher  may  have  little 
to  do  with  the  shaping  of  the  course  and  may  be  required 
to  teach  one  that  has  been  made  for  him.     In  such  a 
case  he  will  have  to  devote  his  energies  to  readjustments. 
Thus,    instead   of   blindly   teaching   his    course,    he   will 
study  it  constantly  with  the  idea  of  reshaping  different 
parts    to    make   them    effective    in    overcoming    specific 
weaknesses  of  the  children  or  useful  in  satisfying  their 
growing  ambitions  for  learning  or  improvement. 

3.  A  special  feature  of  method  is  the  harmonization  in 
the  minds  of  the  children  of  the  course  of  study  with  their 
own  specific  needs.     A  large  amount  of  time  may  profit- 
ably be  spent  in  this  harmonizing  process,  for  after  it 
is  once  accomplished,  the  capacity  of  the  class  is  so  much 
increased  that  results  are  not  to  be  compared  with  work 
done  by  a  spiritless  group  which  feels  that  it  is  merely 
performing  tasks   to   satisfy  the  teacher   or  the   school 
authorities.     The  average  child,  when  he  sees  that  he 
really  needs  to  know  that  which  he  is  required  to  learn, 
is  likely  to  learn  a  great  deal  of  it  without  the  aid  of  a 
teacher.     His   entire  school   life  is  in  this  way   placed 


MOTIVES  77 

upon  a  higher  plane.  He  realizes  where  he  is  going  and 
is  likely  to  exert  himself  not  only  in  trying  to  get  there 
but  also  in  devising  special  ways  of  getting  there. 

More  Reliance  upon  Children.  It  is  often  surprising 
to  what  degree  children  realize  what  is  good  for  them 
and  how  willing  they  are  to  do  ordinary  school  work 
when  they  are  allowed  to  initiate  it  instead  of  being  re- 
quired to  do  it  without  consideration.  To  most  adults 
who  love  freedom  a  task  laid  on  from  the  outside  is  irk- 
some, and  many  grown  men  and  women  say  they  felt  the 
same  way  when  they  were  children.  Mark  Twain  may 
be  taken  as  an  example.  He  said  he  always  disliked 
anything  which  bore  the  resemblance  of  a  yoke.  "  Tax- 
ation without  representation  "  was  given  as  the  cause  of 
the  Revolution  in  America.  The  colonists  maintained 
that  they  would  have  been  glad  to  do  anything  for  the 
mother  country  which  a  body  of  their  own  representa- 
tives should  decide  was  right. 

A  mistake  of  school  teachers  has  been  to  impose  tasks 
upon  children  who  are  willing  to  do  these  very  tasks  but 
who  immediately  rebel  when  forced  into  them.  It  al- 
ways takes  the  joy  out  of  good  work  to  be  robbed  of  the 
responsibility  for  it.  We  must  take  the  time  to  allow 
rather  than  require  children  to  learn.  Education  after 
this  intelligent  method  is  certain  to  be  more  lasting  than 
it  was  under  the  old  suspicious  regime,  which  created 
many  of  its  own  difficulties  by  its  coercive  methods. 

Illustrations  in  Arithmetic.  A  teacher  in  the  second 
grade  found  that  her  course  suggested  that  the  children 


78         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

learn  the  combinations  to  twenty,  the  multiplication 
tables  to  the  fours,  acquire  some  basic  ideas  in  liquid, 
dry,  and  linear  measures,  learn  to  a  certain  extent  the 
values  of  different  pieces  of  money,  and  solve  the  easier 
examples  in  making  change.  She  first  made  a  study  of 
the  class  and  found,  as  is  always  the  case,  that  many  of 
the  children  already  knew  a  great  deal  of  the  subject 
matter  thus  prescribed,  that  some  of  them  knew  a  little 
of  it,  and  others  had  no  arithmetic  knowledge  at  all. 
This  took  about  two  periods  at  the  beginning  of  each  new 
topic.  As  each  division  of  the  subject  was  taken  up,  the 
necessity  for  learning  it  was  explained  to  the  children. 
They  were  allowed  to  talk  freely  about  the  value  of 
knowing  how  to  add  and  subtract,  how  to  measure,  make 
change,  etc.  A  marked  interest  in  these  values  was 
shown,  and  a  better  working  spirit  resulted.  Some  of  the 
children  came  to  school  with  lessons  prepared  in  ad- 
vance, showing  that  they  had  been  working  at  home. 
One  boy  learned  all  his  multiplication  tables.  There 
was  a  lack  of  response  on  the  part  of  a  few.  The  special 
failings  of  these  were  studied  by  the  teacher.  These 
children  were  told  of  their  weaknesses  and  in  overcom- 
ing them  they  were  afforded  a  special  motive  for  doing 
hard  work. 

Children  in  the  eighth  grade  may  even  take  part  in 
discovering  their  own  needs.  An  illustration  of  such 
work  and  its  results  is  given  in  the  words  of  the  teacher : 

While  studying  the  individual  needs  of  my  class  I  re- 
quested each  individual  to  keep  in  a  notebook  a  record  of  his 


MOTIVES 


79 


daily  work.  Four  days  a  week  we  graded  the  papers  in  class 
and  one  day  I  graded  them  and  returned  the  papers  to  the 
children.  Our  work  was  in  interest  and  our  problem  was  to 
develop  the  ability  to  get  correct  answers.  In  his  notebook 
each  child  kept  track  of  the  special  difficulties  which  made 
him  inaccurate.  The  faults  were  divided  into  three  types, 
(1)  carelessness,  (2)  mistakes  in  method,  and  (3)  mistakes  in 
addition,  division,  multiplication,  or  subtraction  (if  these 
occurred  in  fractions  or  decimals  it  was  noted).  I  collected 
these  notebooks  once  each  month,  and  the  children  by  fol- 
lowing their  notes  soon  found  wherein  they  were  weak.  Many 
of  them  would  come  to  me  and  talk  about  their  peculiar  mis- 
takes. There  were,  of  course,  a  few  who  did  not  seem  to 
care,  but  even  these  were  more  interested  after  they  had 
learned  just  why  they  were  not  accurate.  They  knew  that 
their  lessons  were  designed  to  meet  their  specific  needs,  and 
that  they  were  not  being  imposed  upon  by  being  required  to 
work  useless  problems. 

A  page  from  one  of  these  books  is  included  here  for  illus- 
tration. 


DATE 

PROBLEMS 
ATTEMPTED 

CORRECT 

CARE- 
LESSNESS 

METHOD 

MISTAKES 

Add. 

Div. 

Mul. 

Sub. 

Sept.    9 

4 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

Sept.  10 

4 

3 

1 

1 

Sept.  11 

4 

2 

2 

3 

Sept.  12 

4 

1 

2 

1 

l(dec.) 

1 

Sept.  13 

4 

4 

Sept.  16 

4 

1 

3 

This  boy  soon  found  that  his  arch  enemy  was  carelessness. 
By  watching  himself  closely  he  was  able  to  improve  in  his 


80         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

average  score  in  accuracy.     This  record  furnished  a  motive 
for  increased  effort. 

Following  this  procedure  we  were  not  long  in  eliminating 
all  difficulties  in  method.  Our  chief  problem  soon  became 
one  of  eliminating  carelessness.  Addition  was  a  stumbling 
block  because  the  pupils  forgot  to  ' 'carry."  The  zest  showed 
by  the  entire  group  in  discovering  and  striving  to  eliminate 
the  sources  of  their  failures  was  encouraging. 

Tenacity  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  is  essential  in  the 
successful  development  of  such  a  plan.  After  a  week  or 
two  the  class  is  likely  to  drift  back  to  the  old  slovenly 
program  of  working  without  any  definite  end  in  view. 
This  is  very  likely  to  occur  when  the  teacher  does  not 
keep  the  children's  records  in  mind  or  give  them  due  at- 
tention during  the  class  periods.  When  the  children 
understand  that  the  plan  is  going  to  be  a  definite  part  of 
their  work,  and  when  their  records  are  given  due  atten- 
tion by  the  teacher,  they  will  settle  down  to  a  study  of 
themselves  which  is  likely  to  carry  over  into  life.  After 
a  month  or  two  has  passed,  enough  data  to  give  the  child 
an  indication  of  his  special  weaknesses  will  have  been 
accumulated.  Overcoming  these  self-discovered  defi- 
ciencies is  usually  sufficient  motive  for  good  hard  work 
on  his  part  without  further  stimulation  by  the  teacher. 
However,  there  will  always  be  a  few  who  will  not  respond 
to  treatment  of  this  nature.  There  is  no  rosy  road  to 
success  in  practice.  Many  teachers  fail  because  they 
expect  their  schemes  to  work  without  friction  from  the 
very  beginning.  Sometimes  they  merely  propose  them 


MOTIVES  81 

to  the  children  and  expect  them  to  blossom  and  bear 
fruit  without  further  work.  We  cannot  repeat  too  often 
that  the  persistence  of  the  teacher  in  continuing  any 
good  plan  until  it  begins  to  show  results  is  essential  to 
its  success. 

A  fifth-grade  teacher  gave  attention  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  occasions  for  adding,  dividing,  multiplying,  and 
subtracting  fractions  in  the  local  community.  Three 
boys  were  making  a  garden  together.  How  were  they 
going  to  divide  the  products  so  that  each  would  have  his 
proper  share?  The  class  decided  to  give  flowers  which 
cost  a  dollar  to  one  of  their  number  who  was  sick.  What 
amount  should  each  child  pay  ?  The  teacher  then  offered 
to  pay  half  as  much  as  the  class.  Did  they  know  now 
how  to  discover  what  each  should  pay?  Once  or  twice 
each  week  a  part  of  a  period  was  given  over  to  a  discus- 
sion of  the  need  for  learning  fractions.  Examples  from 
the  community  which  the  children  needed  to  know  how 
to  solve  were  brought  in  by  them  and  the  teacher.  The 
result  was  a  class  which  knew  that  it  was  learning  some- 
thing of  value.  These  values  were  constantly  kept  in 
mind  throughout  the  year,  and  whenever  a  child  found 
that  he  could  use  his  knowledge  of  fractions  in  his  daily 
life,  he  was  given  opportunity  to  tell  of  it  at  school. 

Decimals  may  be,  and  are  in  many  places,  taught  in  the 
same  way.  Our  chief  use  of  decimals  is  found  in  trans- 
actions which  involve  money.  Children  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  grades  where  decimals  are  usually  taught  often  take 
part  in  transactions  involving  money.  One  teacher 


82         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

found  that  a  large  number  of  problems  which  would  show 
the  children  their  need  for  decimals  could  be  discovered 
by  calculating  the  cost  of  articles  which  the  children 
wanted  to  buy  or  had  bought.  Part  of  a  period  once 
and  sometimes  twice  a  week  was  given  over  to  a  discus- 
sion of  these  needs.  The  prices  of  roller  skates,  sleds, 
dolls,  mittens,  etc.,  were  investigated  by  the  children, 
who  came  to  class  with  accurate  data  collected  from  the 
stores.  Definite  needs  for  knowing  how  to  add,  divide, 
multiply,  and  subtract  these  figures,  which  involved 
decimals,  were  revealed  in  this  way. 

As  an  introduction  to  a  study  of  interest  a  class  was 
allowed  to  make  a  study  of  the  uses  of  interest  in  the 
community.  They  found  that  liberty  bonds  were  to  run 
for  a  certain  number  of  years  at  4  per  cent.  Persons  of 
their  room  had  purchased  several  of  these.  How  much 
were  their  profits  to  be  ?  Many  of  them  found  that  their 
fathers  had  borrowed  money  at  different  times  and  that 
interest  was  charged  for  this.  One  boy  heard  his  father 
tell  a  man  that  his  home  didn't  pay  in  a  financial  way,  for 
it  yielded  only  about  4  per  cent  after  taxes  and  repairs  had 
been  deducted.  The  work  he  had  been  having  in  class 
caused  him  to  notice  such  a  statement.  He  brought  the 
entire  problem  to  school.  Several  of  the  families  rep- 
resented were  paying  for  homes  on  the  installment  plan. 
The  children  were  soon  convinced  that  it  was  necessary 
to  know  how  to  solve  interest  problems  in  order  to  suc- 
ceed in  a  financial  way.  In  other  words  they  realized 
that  they  needed  the  very  work  they  were  doing  in  school. 


MOTIVES  83 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  such  problems  cannot 
be  found  in  sufficient  numbers  to  furnish  all  the  drill  the 
class  may  need.  The  work,  at  least  under  present  school 
conditions,  seems  to  succeed  best  when  the  life  needs  of 
the  children  are  brought  in  now  and  then  to  let  them  see 
that  their  regular  work  is  developing  abilities  which  they 
are  going  to  need  in  life. 

Needs  in  Writing.  It  is  not  difficult  to  collect  from  the 
local  community  many  examples  of  the  necessity  for 
rapid  and  legible  penmanship.  First  of  all  the  child  will 
want  to  write  real  letters.  This  furnishes  a  splendid 
motive  for  most  children  through  the  fourth  grade. 
The  teacher  allows  them  to  write  letters  at  school  to 
friends  and  relatives.  They  practice  in  order  to  be  able 
to  write  these  letters  quickly  and  legibly,  and  great  zest 
is  usually  taken  in  the  work  because  they  feel  that  they 
are  doing  it  with  some  definite  and  useful  purpose. 

Above  the  fourth  grade  the  vocational  motive  may  be 
relied  upon  to  furnish  stimulation  to  the  majority  of 
children.  They  may  be  asked  to  bring  to  class  the  needs 
which  their  parents  find  for  writing.  Special  incidents 
are  related  about  certain  persons  who  wished  that  they 
could  write  better.  The  Ayres  scale  may  be  taken  by 
the  children  to  the  business  men  of  the  town,  who  are 
usually  willing  to  underline  the  degree  of  perfection  which 
should  be  reached  for  success  in  their  particular  occupa- 
tion. With  these  local  needs  before  them  the  children 
have  good  reasons  for  trying  to  improve  their  writing. 

When  a  score  of  seventy  is  made,  the  child  should  be 


84         MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

excused  from  further  practice.  Little  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  motivation  will  be  found  when  this  definite  goal 
is  added  to  the  study  of  the  local  needs  for  swift  and 
legible  writing.  The  children  know  that  their  work  has 
been  designed  to  satisfy  their  needs  and  that  when  they 
have  achieved  the  degree  of  success  that  is  necessary 
they  will  not  be  required  to  practice  further. 

Language  Based  upon  Local  Needs.  In  the  four 
lower  grades  the  children  are  easily  made  to  understand 
that  they  must  be  able  to  speak  fluently  and  accurately 
if  others  are  going  to  comprehend  what  they  say.  There 
should  be  a  large  amount  of  story  telling  by  the  children 
to  each  other  in  these  grades,  and  the  motive  and  pur- 
pose of  it  all  is  to  develop  their  ability  to  tell  stories  in  a 
way  that  will  interest  the  group.  A  child  has  a  definite 
reason  for  preparing  his  story  and  saying  well  what  he 
has  to  say  when  his  success  depends  upon  his  ability 
to  please  the  class. 

Written  expression  may  be  motivated  in  the  same  way 
as  writing.  The  children  should  constantly  be  made  to 
understand  that  what  they  write  will  be  read  by  someone 
and  that  they  must  learn  how  to  write  accurately  and 
fluently,  else  those  to  whom  they  write  will  not  know  what 
they  are  trying  to  say. 

These  two  motives  furnish  the  basic  reasons  for  oral 
and  written  speech  throughout  the  grades  and  even  in 
life.  In  the  upper  grades  a  great  deal  of  speaking  to  his 
fellows  should  be  required  of  every  child.  His  written 
composition  can  be  made  a  form  of  communication  with 


MOTIVES  85 

the  teacher  and  the  rest  of  the  class.  The  children  are 
asked  to  tell  and  write  of  things  which  will  interest  the 
group,  and  the  reaction  of  the  group  is  made  the  criterion 
of  the  success  of  the  speech  or  composition. 

As  in  the  other  subjects  a  study  of  the  community 
will  show  many  needs  for  being  able  to  speak  and  write 
well.  The  children  may  be  allowed  to  discover  that  the 
lawyer,  the  minister,  and  even  the  business  man  are 
called  upon  to  make  speeches ;  that  the  first  two  are 
quite  dependent  upon  their  ability  to  speak.  Many  ex- 
amples of  times  when  local  persons  wished  they  could 
speak  better  can  be  collected  in  any  community.  The 
necessity  for  being  able  to  express  oneself  accurately  in 
writing  may  be  shown  by  finding  business  men  in  the 
community  who  have  selected  special  persons  from  a 
large  number  of  applicants  because  of  their  well-expressed 
letters.  It  will  be  found  that  others  have  not  been  se- 
lected because  they  wrote  poorly  composed  letters.  Many 
persons  are  now  earning  money  by  writing  for  maga- 
zines. Children  who  appear  to  have  gifts  should  be 
encouraged  by  being  told  that  they  may  be  able  to  do 
something  like  this.  In  a  certain  small  town  the  local 
newspaper  gives  the  boys  and  girls  who  excel  in  their  Eng- 
lish, positions  as  reporters  when  they  graduate  from  high 
school.  In  the  last  ten  years  fully  a  dozen  of  these  boys 
have  become  editors  of  newspapers,  and  a  large  number 
of  others  have  become  reporters  for  dailies  in  the  cities. 
This  practice  has  furnished  the  basis  for  better  English  com- 
position in  the  upper  grades  and  high  school  of  this  town. 


86         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Former  graduates  of  a  school;  the  grown-up  brothers 
and  sisters  who  have  taken  commercial  courses  and 
have  obtained  good  positions  and  find  the  ability  to 
compose  fluently  and  accurately  very  essential  to  suc- 
cess, are  often  willing  to  come  and  talk  to  the  children 
about  the  necessity  for  learning  to  write  well  early  in  life. 

In  grammar  grades  every  means  at  the  teacher's  dis- 
posal should  be  used  to  foster  self-criticism  and  the  study 
by  the  child  of  his  own  peculiar  needs  in  English.  A 
notebook  like  that  suggested  for  arithmetic  should  be 
kept.  In  this  will  soon  be  collected  the  special  points 
in  expression,  punctuation,  spelling,  etc.,  which  cause 
him  trouble.  He  should  be  encouraged  and  stimulated 
to  make  his  oral  and  written  work  focus  upon  these 
needs.  Then  when  he  writes  and  speaks  or  studies 
punctuation  and  grammatical  construction,  he  will  know 
that  he  is  working  with  the  definite  goal  of  overcoming 
his  own  weaknesses  in  a  subject  which  is  essential  to  his 
larger  success  in  life. 

A  few  notes  from  a  "  Self-Study  Book  "  of  an  eighth- 
grade  girl  are  given  here  for  illustration : 

FEBRUARY 

Oral  Written 

Date 

3d      Too  many  ands  and  whys  7 

their  for  him  3. 
Number  of  pronouns 
set  for  sit 
hasn't  come  (not  came) 


MOTIVES 


87 


Oral 


Date 

7th 


9th     Too  many  ands  6 

(T.  suggests  that  I  should 
try  to  have  in  mind  what  I  am 
going  to  say,  for  the  and  shows 
that  I  stop  to  think  in  the 
middle  of  my  sentence.) 

their  for  him  2 

(Someone  is  singular  and 
should  be  followed  by  a  singu- 
lar pronoun.) 

saw  not  seen  for  past 

(This  is  just  habit,  for  I 
know  better.) 

12th  Too  many  ands  2 

(Teacher  said  that  my 
speech  was  free  from  ands 
in  the  first  half  which  showed 
that  when  I  had  prepared  I 
didn't  need  to  over-use  them.) 

14th 


Written 

Comma  5 

Spelling 

until  (not  two  Us) 
committee    (double 
every  case) 

paragraph  3 


in 


Comma  5 

(In  a  series,  like  John, 
Henry,  and  I,  I  must 
always  have  a  comma 
before  and.) 

spelling 


88         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Enough  has  been  given  to  show  the  method  used. 

The  value  of  this  scheme  has  been  proven.  For  three 
years  I  regularly  observed  oral  English  and  collected  all 
the  compositions  written  by  eighth-grade  children  in  the 
Training  School  at  Greeley.  Children  wrote  themes 
throughout  the  first  year  and  constantly  made  the  same 
mistakes,  although  they  were  plainly  marked  and  the 
usual  method  of  teaching  the  correct  forms  was  used. 
In  six  months,  with  the  definite  self-study  campaign  and 
the  individual  notebook  in  use,  a  very  noticeable  gain  in 
both  interest  and  results  could  be  seen. 

Getting  the  children  to  keep  these  books  is  rather  dif- 
ficult at  first.  They  must  be  taught  to  write  well  in 
them  and  keep  them  in  good  form.  The  expression  and 
punctuation  in  them  should  be  graded  at  least  every 
three  weeks,  and  definite  attention  given  to  them  in  the 
regular  class  periods.  When  properly  handled  by  the 
teacher  they  soon  become  a  great  source  of  interest  for 
the  children  and  furnish  a  splendid  motive  for  the  im- 
provement of  written  and  oral  English.  The  form  given 
in  the  illustration  was  finally  evolved  as  providing  full 
opportunity  for  recording  all  mistakes  and  comments  of 
value  and  at  the  same  time  picturing  accurately  the 
child's  progress  in  eliminating  them.  The  numbers  after 
the  entries  indicate  the  number  of  times  the  mistake  was 
made  in  a  speech  or  a  composition  on  that  day. 

These  books  were  found  to  be  very  helpful  to  the 
teacher.  He,  as  well  as  the  children,  can  tell  by  them 
whether  or  not  improvement  is  going  on.  A  special 


MOTIVES  89 

caution  is  necessary  to  the  teacher  who  expects  daily 
improvement,  for  children  are  likely  to  be  erratic  in  their 
progress.  A  child  may  make  a  very  bad  record  after 
several  weeks  of  apparent  improvement,  and  while  this 
should  not  be  overlooked,  too  much  can  be  made  of  it. 
Progress  in  written  and  oral  English  comes  slowly,  and 
many  failures  and  what  seem  to  be  backward  steps  will 
have  to  be  encountered.  The  teacher  must  also  be 
very  careful  in  grading  and  be  sure  of  himself  in  mark- 
ing mistakes,  for  nothing  is  more  confusing  to  children 
than  the  failure  of  the  teacher  to  mark  the  same  way 
twice. 

Children's  Needs  in  Reading.  When  the  child  is  learn- 
ing to  read,  it  is  not  difficult  to  keep  him  reminded  that 
a  new  world  will  be  opened  to  him  as  soon  as  he  has 
gained  the  ability  to  interpret  the  printed  page.  His 
attention  should  constantly  be  called  to  signs  and  printed 
matter  which  he  meets  in  daily  life.  When  stories  are 
told  him,  he  should  be  told  that  as  soon  as  he  can  read, 
he  will  be  able  to  get  thousands  of  stories  from  books. 
A  thoughtful  teacher  can  find  material  in  any  commu- 
nity which  will  be  useful  in  keeping  before  children  their 
need  for  learning  to  read. 

An  illustration  of  motivation  of  this  type  is  found  in 
the  work  of  the  Horace  Mann  School  and  is  described  in 
Teachers  College  Record.1  The  two  basic  ideas  in  the 
work  are :  (l)  the  provision  of  material  which  will  lead 
the  child  to  see  his  need  for  reading,  and  (2)  the  selection 
,  l  Sept.  1916,  pp.  330-343. 


90         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

of  those  materials  which  have  the  strongest  appeal  and 
are  the  most  effective.  The  quotations  which  follow  are 
taken  from  this  article. 

The  first  definite  step  in  the  work  was  to  acquaint  the 
children  with  their  own  names  in  printed  form.  .  .  .  Some 
difficulty  had  been  experienced  in  distinguishing  the  proper 
chairs  for  individual  children  according  to  their  size,  and  we 
decided  to  print  their  names  on  cards  and  fasten  these  to  the 
backs  of  the  chairs.  .  .  .  The  children  needed  but  a  few 
minutes  to  learn  the  appearance  of  their  own  names  and  they 
never  made  a  mistake  afterwards.  Several  children  soon 
learned  to  recognize  other  names  as  well  as  their  own. 

Boxes  of  colored  crayons  had  been  distinguished  up  to 
this  time,  by  a  paper  of  the  proper  color  pasted  on  the  ends  of 
the  boxes.  ...  An  outfit  of  No.  17  Superior  Type  was 
provided,  and  in  the  holder  which  is  furnished,  the  words 
red,  yellow,  blue,  green,  etc.  were  set  up.  The  children  did 
the  printing,  which  is  simply  a  stamping  process,  and  cut 
the  labels  and  pasted  them  on  the  boxes. 

A  key  card  was  made  on  which  were  pasted  squares  of 
paper  of  various  colors.  The  names  of  the  colors  were  printed 
beside  the  squares.  Separate  small  cards  each  containing  a  sin- 
gle colored  square  and  other  cards  of  the  same  size  each  con- 
taining a  corresponding  word  were  provided.  The  puzzle  was  to 
match  up  all  the  colors  and  words,  using  the  key  card  first 
and  then  discarding  it.  This  puzzle  was  very  popular.  .  .  . 
Many  other  puzzles  involving  the  reading  of  words,  phrases, 
or  sentences  were  invented,  and  in  all  of  them  the  element  of 
individual  control  was  present  so  that  the  children  could  use 
them  entirely  alone  and  know  whether  work  was  correct  or  not. 

Reading,  making,  and  using  signs  offered  a  rich   field  for 


MOTIVES  91 

interesting  activity.  Signs,  which  are  everywhere  about  the 
child  in  a  city  environment,  are  an  early  source  of  interest 
in  the  printed  symbol.  Often  in  connection  with  their  build- 
ing with  the  big  floor  blocks  the  children  made  crude  attempts 
at  reproducing  such  signs  as  For  Rent,  Bank,  and  Keep  Out. 
It  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for  them  to  notice  the  signs  about 
the  school  and  college  buildings  and  in  the  neighborhood  and 
to  attempt  to  find  out  what  they  told.  They  always  asked 
about  a  placard  that  was  occasionally  placed  on  the  door  of 
the  room  announcing,  "  This  room  is  not  open  to  visitors 
to-day,"  picked  out  the  different  words  and  asked  what  they 
were.  They  discovered  the  meaning  of  the  words  Push, 
Pull,  In,  Out,  and  showed  interest  in  stich  signs  as,  Take  East 
Elevator,  Take  West  Elevator,  Please  Keep  off  the.  Grass,  and 
many  others. 


The  children  also  made  signs  for  themselves.  Several 
small  sets  of  type,  which  are  inexpensive,  were  bought.  With 
these  outfits  the  children  love  to  print  their  own  names,  vari- 
ous signs  for  their  dwellings,  stores,  hotels,  boats,  engine  houses, 
banks,  and  other  enterprises. 

Other  environmental  interests  were  drawn  upon  for  ma- 
terial. Matching  names  to  pictures,  reading  descriptions  of 
pictures  in  story  books,  etc. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  teachers  in  the  Horace 
Mann  School  place  even  greater  stress  upon  motivation 
and  the  interest  aroused  in  the  children  than  they  do  upon 
immediate  results ;  and  this  is  right,  for  the  realization 
of  their  need  for  reading  will  cause  children  to  learn  and 
grow  when  they  are  not  in  school.  In  the  description  of 
results  we  find : 


92         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Other  much  more  important  results  than  the  remembering 
of  words  (although  this  was  not  neglected)  in  beginning  read- 
ing were  accomplished.  The  children's  consciousness  of  the 
significance  of  reading  and  of  its  importance  to  them  was 
increased.  .  .  .  They  turned  eagerly  to  books  without  the 
slightest  pressure  from  the  teachers  and  showed  great  per- 
sistence in  mastering  the  difficulties  encountered. 

An  Informal  Attitude  Is  Necessary  when  Needs  Are 
Made  the  Basis  of  Study.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
all  unnecessary  formalities  must  be  discarded  if  children 
are  to  be  taught  to  discover  their  need  for  what  they  are 
taught.  The  modern  school  is  likely  to  grade  the  ques- 
tioning child  higher  than  the  one  who  servilely  follows 
directions.  "  What  is  its  use  to  me?  "  or  "  Why  do  I 
need  to  know  that?  "  is  a  very  appropriate  question  for 
children  to  ask.  The  child's  learning  is  put  upon  a 
higher  plane  when  he  begins  to  ask  such  questions  and  to 
consider  his  school  tasks  in  this  light.  He  should  be 
encouraged  in  this,  not  regarded  as  a  nuisance  on  account 
of  it. 

This  attitude  may  be  illustrated  in  problems  of  dis- 
cipline, for  it  is  here  that  unnecessary  formalities  occur 
most  often.  The  teacher  and  the  children  may  right- 
fully question  the  need  for  such  practices  as  the  follow- 
ing: 

1.  Forming  in  straight  lines  at  the  door  whenever  a 
group  leaves  the  room. 

2.  Marching  like  soldiers  when  moving  about  within 
the  school  building  or  on  an  excursion. 


MOTIVES  93 

3.  Sitting  with  fingers  interlocked  on  the  desk  when 
assigned  tasks  are  completed  or  when  waiting. 

4.  The  prohibition  of  whispering,  idling  in  the  school- 
room, etc. 

In  all  these  cases  the  children  should  be  taught  that 
they  are  not  formal  duties  and  may  be  dispensed  with 
as  soon  as  it  is  clear  that  they  are  not  needed.  If  the 
pupils  can  come  into  the  building  in  an  orderly  way  on 
their  own  accord,  they  should  be  allowed  to  do  so  with- 
out military  requirements.  They  should  be  allowed  to 
speak  to  each  other  when  they  show  that  they  can  do 
so  without  disturbing  their  own  work  or  that  of  the 
room.  Freedom  of  any  sort  should  be  limited  only  when 
a  definite  need  for  such  limitations  can  be  revealed  to 
the  children. 

Discipline  is  thus  motivated  when  the  children  realize 
that  it  is  necessary.  A  splendid  motive  is  furnished 
them  to  act  as  they  should  do  when  by  so  acting  they  are 
relieved  of  unnecessary  restraint.  Discipline  then  be- 
comes the  same  in  school  as  in  life,  for  the  reason  for  civil 
laws  is  that  they  prevent  individuals  from  interfering 
with  others  and  society  at  large.  When  one  shows  that 
he  needs  them,  artificial  restraints  are  imposed  upon 
him  by  these  laws. 

»  Psychological  Moments  May  Serve  as  Motives 

When  something  special  is  happening  in  the  commu- 
nity, when  the  children  are  doing  something  outside  of 
school,  or  when  a  child  has  made  an  important  discovery , 


94         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

school  work  is  motivated  by  connecting  these  occasions 
with  it.  This  will  necessitate  a  flexible  application  of 
the  course  of  study,  but  courses  of  study  are  made  to  be 
adjusted.  When  they  are  rigidly  followed  in  logical  se- 
quence, motivation  is  hard  to  secure.  A  fact  that  is  well 
motivated  can  be  taught  "  out  of  order  "  and  will  be  re- 
membered and  used.  Illustrations  of  the  use  of  psy- 
chological moments  in  different  subjects  follow: 

Hygiene.  Suppose  it  has  been  discovered  that  the 
city  water  is  contaminated.  Notices  appear  in  the 
papers  that  it  is  not  fit  to  drink  without  being  boiled. 
In  both  civics  and  hygiene  the  classes  go  to  studying 
the  water  question.  They  learn  a  great  ,  deal  about 
pure  water,  its  necessity,  the  reason  why  water  is  some- 
times impure,  and  how  the  city  may  go  about  insuring 
pure  water  for  the  people. 

A  contagious  disease  has  broken  out  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. It  may  be  measles,  German  measles,  scarlet 
fever,  or  some  other  disease.  It  is  made  the  basis  for  a 
study  of  contagious  diseases,  the  laws  that  have  been 
passed  in  the  city  and  state  in  regard  to  them,  and 
the  duties  of  citizens  in  case  they  or  their  families  are 
affected. 

A  child  is  burned.  The  burn  is  treated  and  made 
the  reason  for  a  study  of  burns.  A  child  cuts  his  hand. 
The  occasion  is  used  to  teach  hygienic  care  of  wounds. 

Arithmetic.  The  assessor  is  calling  at  different  homes. 
The  occasion  is  used  to  teach  taxes.  As  much  is  made 
of  the  local  tax  situation  as  possible. 


MOTIVES  95 

The  farmers  are  selling  or  storing  their  corn,  wheat, 
beets,  etc.  Markets,  prices,  and  the  contrasted  ad- 
vantages of  selling  and  storing  are  studied. 

There  is  a  liberty  bond  campaign  on.  This  is  used 
as  a  motive  for  studying  percentage,  bonds,  etc. 

The  prices  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  have  increased 
during  the  war.  This  is  used  as  a  motive  for  figuring 
costs.  Investigations  are  made  and  the  problems  dis- 
covered are  used  in  the  classes. 

It  is  time  to  plant  a  garden.  What  will  it  cost  before 
it  is  finished?  It  is  Christmas.  What  will  the  cele- 
bration of  the  holidays  cost  ?  What  does  a  Thanksgiving 
dinner  cost? 

Geography.  The  war  in  Europe  furnishes  motivation 
for  almost  all  the  geography  that  can  be  taught.  What 
effect  upon  the  war  would  the  entry  of  Holland  have  had  ? 
What  was  the  real  significance  in  territory,  men,  guns,  sup- 
plies, etc.,  of  the  Russian  collapse?  What  would  Pan- 
Germany  have  been  if  the  hopes  of  the  Junkers  had 
been  realized,  etc.,  etc.  ?  There  are  plenty  of  psychologi- 
cal moments  here. 

McMurry  used  the  Mexican  situation  to  motivate  a 
study  of  Mexico.  Should  the  United  States  intervene 
in  Mexico?  This  furnished  a  basis  for  gaining  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  country,  for  no  one  could  answer  intelli- 
gently without  being  acquainted  with  conditions  in 
Mexico. 

The  increasing  cost  of  automobile  tires  may  bring  up 
the  question  of  the  rubber  industry.  The  price  of  shoes 


96         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

may  be  related  to  the  hide  situation.  Wool,  cotton,  etc., 
have  the  same  local  connections. 

Woodwork.  Repairs  are  necessary  in  the  school. 
The  class  in  woodwork  makes  them.  Chairs  are  needed 
for  the  primary  class.  They  are  made  in  the  school  shop. 
A  play  is  to  be  given.  The  woodwork  classes  make  the 
equipment,  etc. 

Home  Economics.  Orange  marmalade  is  made  for  the 
soldiers.  Dresses  are  made  for  an  orphan  asylum.  The 
girls  need  dresses.  They  make  them.  Other  illustra- 
tions could  be  given. 

History.  An  election  campaign  is  going  on.  Political 
parties  are  studied  in  school  and  the  election  used  as  a 
constant  motive.  The  war,  of  course,  furnishes  motive 
for  everything  here. 

Instincts,  Interests,  and  Play  as  Motives 

The  factor  of  necessity  has  been  placed  first  in  this 
discussion  because  the  necessary  work  of  the  school 
should  not  be  interrupted  by  motivation  entirely  through 
instincts,  interests,  and  play.  Back  of  any  other  motive 
we  must  constantly  keep  in  the  child's  mind  a  realization 
of  the  need  in  life  for  what  he  is  learning.  Then  if  we  can 
make  the  work  more  interesting  in  the  immediate  sense, 
so  much  the  better,  and  motivation  cannot  be  mistaken, 
as  it  sometimes  is,  for  a  substitute  for  school  work  rather 
than  a  powerful  aid  and  a  necessary  basis  for  it.  The 
fundamental  feature  of  motivation  is  the  realization  by 
the  learner  of  his  need  for  that  which  he  is  learning. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  INTEREST  IN  PRACTICE 

Interest  a  Universal  Doctrine.  It  would  not  be  over- 
stating the  case  to  say  that  every  great  teacher  has  be- 
lieved in  and  practiced  some  form  of  the  doctrine  of  in- 
terest. I  have  at  hand  quotations  subscribing  to  its  use 
from  Plato,  Aristotle,  Quintilian,  Latini,  Comenius, 
Rabelais,  Vittorino,  Kant,  Froebel,  Herbart,  Meumann, 
Hall,  Dewey,  Suzzallo,  McMurry,  Thorndike,  Judd, 
Burnham,  and  a  large  number  of  others.  Practically  no 
one  of  importance  has  taken  issue  with  the  principle ;  the 
following  quotation  is  an  explanation  of  practice. 

"  The  Francis  W.  Parker  School  [Chicago]  stands  for 
the  proposition  that  work  to  be  really  profitable  need 
not  be  irksome,  but,  on  the  contrary, 'where  interest  is 
stimulated,  habits  of  attention  and  industry  are  more 
easily  formed  and  are  more  enduring  than  where  the 
reluctant  mind  is  urged  to  tasks  the  uses  of  which  are 
not  understood.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  distinc- 
tion between  work  and  play  is  to  be  confused.  The  same 
positive  and  sustained  effort,  the  same  persistence,  deter- 
mination, and  concentration  —  and  the  development  of 
these  qualities  is  essential  to  education  —  are  required 
^y  the  child  in  his  work  as  by  the  adult  in  his ;  the  in- 
H  97 


98         MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

centive  of  interest  is  felt  by  each,  not  as  turning  work 
into  play  but  as  making  work  pleasant." 

In  the  directions  to  the  teachers  of  the  Indianapolis 
public  schools  the  following  statements  may  be  regarded 
as  furnishing  the  basic  principles : 

1  The  primary  requisite  is  a  teacher  with  intelligence, 
sympathy,  ingenuity,  spirit,  and,  withal,  the  power  to 
interest  children. 


"  The  wise  teacher  guides  but  does  not  repress.  The 
child  will  master  the  more  difficult  tasks  as  well  as  the 
easier  ones  provided  he  works  under  the  stimulus  of 
interest.7' 

These  statements  might  be  taken  as  representative  of 
the  attitude  of  those  in  control  of  practically  every 
large  city  in  the  United  States,  while  the  superintendents 
of  a  great  many  smaller  cities  as  well  are  stressing  in- 
terest in  their  instructions  to  teachers.  The  two  quo- 
tations which  follow  are  chosen  at  random  and  represent 
what  might  have  been  taken  from  any  one  of  a  hundred 
other  sources. 

"  The  English  class  admits  the  child  to  a  world  of 
beauty  and  new  interests."  Berkeley,  California,  Course 
of  Study  of  the  Intermediate  Schools,  Section  on  English. 

"  For  the  word  artist,  in  its  widest  acceptation,  means 
to  me  the  man  who  takes  pleasure  in  what  he  does. 
So  it  would  be  desirable  were  there  artists  in  all  tn 
-  artist  carpenters,  happy  in  skillful  raising  of  beam  am 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   INTEREST   IN   PRACTICE       99 

mortise,  artist  masons,  spreading  plaster  with  pleasure, 
artist  carters,  proud  of  caring  for  their  horses,  and  of 
not  running  over  those  in  the  street.  Is  it  not  true  that 
they  would  constitute  an  admirable  society?"  Quota- 
tion from  Rodin,  and  given  as  the  basis  of  art  work  in  a 
report  of  the  Kankakee,  Illinois,  public  schools. 

Practical  Features 

Practical  Use  Difficult.  Anyone  who  has  conscien- 
tiously tried  to  interest  a  group  of  live  boys  and  girls 
knows  that  it  is  a  many-sided  problem.  The  student 
in  the  normal  school  is  taught  the  "  fundamental  neces- 
sity "  of  interest  in  instruction  and  at  the  end  of  his 
methods  course  is  fairly  bubbling  with  enthusiasm  to 
apply  this  new  philosophy.  He  goes  out  to  teach  arith- 
metic, grammar,  or  whatever  the  subject  may  be  and 
finds  this  "  fundamental  necessity  "  the  most  conspicu- 
ously and  continuously  absent  of  all.  teaching  requisites. 
What  shall  he  do? 

Teachers  Form  Wrong  Attitudes.  It  is  to  be  feared 
that  a  large  per  cent  of  our  teachers  adopt  one  of  two 
evils.  One  group  soon  sees  the  uselessness  of  training 
in  pedagogy  and  ceases  to  attempt  to  use  it,  resorting  to 
continued  coercion,  scolding,  and  prodding  to  obtain  the 
desired  results.  The  other  group  goes  to  the  extreme  of 
developing  interest  through  continuous  entertainment. 
In  fact,  some  find  difficulty  in  seeing  anything  in  the  in- 
terest idea  aside  from  entertainment  by  the  teacher. 
yA  young  lady  who  was  doing  her  practice  teaching  was 


100       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

recently  heard  to  say,  "  My  training  teacher  continues 
to  demand  that  the  children  be  interested  in  their  geog- 
raphy, and  I  fear  I  shall  have  nervous  prostration  if  I 
have  to  keep  that  class  interested  much  longer.  I  have 
tried  field  trips  and  found  them  interested,  •>  but  not  in 
the  subject  at  hand.  I  have  tried  every  method  of  con- 
ducting the  class  I  can  think  of.  I  guess  I  shall  have  to 
stand  on  my  ear  for  them  to-day." 

But  the  Teacher  Must  not  Confuse  Interest  with  Dis- 
cipline. No  teacher  can  hold  the  attention  of  a  class 
day  after  day  unless  he  is  able  to  discipline  them  when 
the  necessity  arises.  Requirements  and  coercion  are 
necessary  elements  in  teaching  school  even  upon  the 
interest  basis,  but  they  do  not  do  away  with  the  neces- 
sity of  interest.  Also  the  ability  of  the  teacher  to  radi- 
ate inspiration,  to  hold  the  attention  of  the  children 
through  force  of  character  is  just  as  necessary.  Interest 
should  always  help  in  disciplining  a  school,  but  other 
means  may  be  necessary  at  times. 

Knowledge  of  Children  Fundamental.  With  both  of 
these  abilities  stated  as  being  essential  in  the  successful 
teacher,  we  are  ready  to  study  the  problems  of  teaching 
as  they  are  related  to  the  interests  of  the  children.  Here 
lies  a  rich  field,  and  ample  rewards  will  come  to  any 
teacher  who  enters  it.  Knowledge  of  the  inner  life  of 
the  pupils,  or  the  lack  of  it;  determines  the  majority  of 
successes  or  failures  in  the  teaching  world  to-day. 

"  I  tremble,"  said  Jean  Paul   Richter,  "  when  I   se< 
some  rough  grown-up  hand  blundering  with  these  tender 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   INT'tiilksT  :  Itt'  PRACTICE     101 


buds  from  childhood's  garden,  marring  the  bloom  here 
and  disturbing  the  delicacy  of  structure  there." 

In  order  not  to  go  astray  the  teacher  should  have  a  clear 
understanding  of  interest  before  he  attempts  to  apply  it. 
He  must  consider  such  questions  as  its  values,  why  he  is 
applying  it,  its  limits,  and  its  many  and  sometimes  con- 
tradictory phases.  These  working  principles,  as  deter- 
mined by  successful  practice,  are  outlined  as  follows  : 

i.  Interest  Is  Basic  but  Needs  Adult  Guidance.  The 
interests  of  the  child  are  one  of  nature's  provisions  for  his 
guidance.  What  is  interesting  to  him  is  in  a  general 
sense  likely  to  be  good  for  him.  It  is  to  be  kept  in  mind 
that  he  is  not  a  piece  of  plastic  clay  depending  upon  the 
teacher  for  his  formation.  He  is  a  creature  with  inner 
life,  desires,  and  interests  of  his  own.  He  is  a  product 
of  the  centuries,  a  creation  of  evolution,  and  he  is  still 
evolving.  All  his  education  is  to  be  a  process  of  inner 
reaction  to  external  stimuli.  Education  is  to  emancipate 
his  powers.  It  can  create  nothing  within  him.  Inner 
reaction  is  always  necessary  in  the  learning  of  any  truth 
or  in  the  development  of  any  ability. 

Nature  has  also  supplied  the  child  with  other  means 
of  guidance.  He  lives  through  a  long  period  of  immatur- 
ity, during  which  he  is  more  or  less  feeble  and  plastic. 
He  is  made  to  be  dependent  upon  parents,  teachers,  and 
society.  One  of  his  chief  interests  lies  in  his  desire  for 
human  companionship,  his  need  of  adults,  and  his  natural 
obedience  to  them.  This  fact  does  not  conflict  with  the 
use  of  his  interests  in  his  development,  but  is  one  of  the 


102       koB&Rft   ELfe&E&TARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 


most  evident  of  those  interests.  Consider  the  following 
examples  : 

It  will  be  found  that  most  children  are  interested  in 
all  school  work  when  they  enter  school,  indicating  that 
their  natural  tendencies  are  in  harmony  with  learning. 
In  refusing  to  work  with  these  natural  interests  and 
guide  rather  than  oppose  them  the  school  often  develops 
a  distaste  in  children  for  learning.  Some  statements 
of  children  on  this  point  are  : 

"  I  like  to  read  but  not  in  school.'7 

''  I  love  flowers,  but  I  don't  like  them  the  way  they 
are  used  in  nature  study." 

:i  I  like  to  work  with  tools,  but  the  work  in  manual 
training  seems  almost  to  suffocate  me." 

In  the  olden-time  school  the  children  were  often  not 
in  accord  with  their  work  because  their  interests  were 
not  considered.  Those  who  were  the  brightest  and 
most  capable  were  the  ones  who  were  often  most  out  of 
harmony  with  their  teachers.  It  would  be  safe  to  say 
that  a  majority  of  the  successful  men  and  women  of  the 
past  century  were  not  enthusiastic  in  their  school  work. 
Their  success  was  achieved  by  work  outside  the  school 
under  the  inspiration  and  direction  of  parents,  relatives, 
or  friends.  Hegel,  Napoleon,  Thackeray,  Browning,  By- 
ron, Darwin,  Edison,  Burbank,  Spencer,  the  Stevensons, 
Mark  Twain,  Riley,  Ruskin,  Goethe,  Cardinal  Wiseman, 
and  Chatterton,  are  names  which  could  be  used  to  head 
a  list  of  successful  persons  who  were  not  successful  in 
school.  The  list,  if  completed,  and  made  to  include  those 

'       V 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   INTEREST    IN    PRACTICE     103 

who  were  fairly  successful  in  life,  would  probably  extend 
through  the  remainder  of  this  book. 

The  modern  school,  however,  is  bending  its  energies  to 
discover  as  early  as  possible  the  special  interests  of  the 
child.  When  these  are  found,  all  the  work  of  the  school 
is  related  to  them.  Thackeray  or  Mark  Twain  would 
have  reveled  in  the  work  as  carried  on  in  many  modern 
schools,  and  school  authorities  would  not  be  long  in  dis- 
covering and  developing  their  special  powers. 

Illustrative  Cooperation.  The  report  of  an  eighth-grade 
teacher  on  guidance  and  interest  properly  combined  is 
given  below : 

"  H.  was  interested  in  art.  He  wanted  to  draw  every- 
thing. His  ability  in  the  school  subjects  was  fair. 

"  I  decided  to  encourage  his  art.  I  told  him  that  if 
he  would  get  his  school  work  at  home  he  could  take  our 
study  hour  for  art,  and  that  I  would  get  the  criticisms  of 
an  artist  on  his  pictures.  The  scheme  worked  from  the 
beginning.  His  interest  in  the  school  tasks  was  better 
and  in  art  and  painting  his  progress  was  almost  spec- 
tacular. I  later  allowec^him  to  take  the  arithmetic 
period  on  days  when  we  were  having  drill  problems  and 
explanations  of  problems  which  had  been  previously  tried 
by  the  class,  upon  his  promising  to  give  special  atten- 
tion when  he  was  there.  It  was  understood  that  if  he 
fell  behind  in  the  arithmetic  he  was  to  go  back  to  the 
old  way.  He  did  not  fall  behind. " 

There  is  a  practice  in  some  cities  of  allowing  a  child 
to  take  a  special  subject  which  is  interesting  to  him  and 


104       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

advance  in  this  course  as  fast  as  he  can  regardless  of  his 
abilities  in  other  lines.  If  he  is  especially  interested  in 
jewelry  design,  he  may  be  allowed  to  continue  with 
regular  work  in  the  sixth  grade  and  take  up  special  work 
in  the  high  school.  This  is  made  a  regular  practice  in 
many  schools  with  the  children  who  are  over  age. 

Result  of  Ignoring  Interest.  A  child  of  this  type 
might  have  been  given  a  wrong  start  in  life  by  being 
forced  to  work  upon  the  school  tasks  in  which  he  was 
retarded.  The  following  illustration  is  a  common  case : 

Girl,  age  15,  in  seventh  grade.  Has  failed  three  times. 
Leaves  school.  Works  in  a  laundry  for  five  years.  From 
the  age  of  ten  she  had  showed  marked  proficiency  in  art 
and  in  sewing.  She  was  always  happy  when  working  at 
either  of  these.  She  continued  to  sew  for  herself,  and  now 
and  then  for  others,  until  she  was  quite  proficient.  School 
authorities  never  paid  any  attention  to  her  interests. 
After  five  years  in  the  laundry  she  took  up  sewing  in  a 
department  store.  Gradually  worked  to  the  top  during  the 
ten  years  that  followed.  As  she  achieved  one  success  after 
another,  self-confidence,  which  had  been  lost  in  school, 
came  back  to  her.  She  became  known  as  one  of  the 
most  capable  employees  of  the  store.  Her  interests  in 
other  fields  increased. 

It  had  taken  fifteen  years  to  overcome  the  false  start 
the  school  had  given  her. 

The  first  point  in  regard  to  interest  is  to  utilize  it  but 
not  follow  it  entirely  in  the  work  of  the  school.  Wise 
guidance  by  adults  must  in  no  way  be  diminished,  but 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   INTEREST    IN   PRACTICE     105 

the  test  of  the  wisdom  of  this  guidance  is  the  amount  of 
inner  reaction  and  zeal  for  the  work  displayed  by  children. 

2.  InterestLeads  to  More  Difficult  Tasks.  Interest  in 
the  normal  child  does  not  turn  toward  the  easier  tasks 
but  involves  hard  work.  Interest  means  more  than  just 
hard  woriv  however.  It  means  inner  reaction  to  this 
work,  causing  the  child  to  do  his  best  not  merely  because 
he  likes  his  teacher  or  is  afraid  of  him.  The  pedagogy 
of  interest  urges  continually  the  development  of  inde- 
pendence, self-realization,  and  will  power  (the  inner  force 
which  drives  the  individual  ahead  without  compulsion). 
It  is  never  satisfied  with  the  mere  objective  result,  the 
completion  of  the  task  at  hand,  although  this  is,  of  course, 
essential ;  but  it  looks  to  the  development  of  the  inner 
life  of  the  individual  as  a  result  of  his  activities. 

Hard  work,  good  work,  interest,  and  happiness  go  to- 
gether. The  old  proverb,  "  Of  course  I  know  what 
happiness  is  for  I  have  done  good  work,"  lies  at  the  base 
of  the  pedagogy  of  interest.  Every  child  who  is  real- 
izing his  inner  nature,  his  true  self,  is  doing  good  hard 
work  and  enjoys  it. 

Illustrations  of  Hard  Work  as  a  Result  of  Interest. 
During  the  last  four  years  I  have  collected  many  in- 
stances of  children  doing  a  great  deal  more  than  the  school 
required.  They  solved  more  than  the  number  of  arith- 
metic problems  assigned.  They  wrote  compositions 
when  not  asked  to  do  so  and  begged  to  take  their  readers 
home  in  order  to  master  a  difficult  selection  or  finish  an 
interesting  one.  A  good  method  of  teaching  reading, 


106      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

and  especially  upper-grade  literature,  is  to  study  a  new 
book  by  reading  only  half  of  it  in  class,  making  it  as  in- 
teresting as  possible.  Then  permit  the  children  to  take 
the  book  home  and  finish  it. 

In  the  school  at  Greeley  we  found  many  of  the  chil- 
dren coming  to  school  long  before  time  to  begin  in  the 
morning  and  staying  in  the  evening  as  long  as  we  would 
permit  them  to. 

The  following  are  typical  illustrations : 

Six  eighth-grade  girls  dramatized  one  of  their  selec- 
tions in  literature.  They  met  in  the  evenings  after 
school,  asked  the  teacher  to  help  them,  and  worked 
much  harder  than  they  did  in  any  of  the  regular  lessons. 

X  came  to  school  one  morning  with  the  multiplication 
tables  all  mastered.  The  grade  in  which  he  was  work- 
ing did  not  require  more  than  the  fours  (2d  grade). 
He  had  learned  them  at  home  in  order  to  "  surprise  " 
his  teacher. 

A  child  wrote  fifteen  themes  during  a  term  when  only 
ten  were  required. 

A  boy  who  was  considered  lazy  in  school  worked  hard 
every  evening  in  a  home  garden  and  studied  his  regular 
lessons  better  than  before  as  a  result  of  the  teacher  call- 
ing attention  to  his  garden  and  recognizing  its  importance. 

Tom  Sawyer  made  all  sorts  of  disagreeable  work  en- 
joyable to  his  fellows  by  pretending  that  it  was  fun. 

John  Locke  found  that  top  spinning  would  become 
disagreeable  to  a  child  if  presented  in  the  same  manner 
as  his  school  work. 

x. 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    INTEREST    IN   PRACTICE     107 

3.  Use  of  Interest  a  Standard.  Interest  does  not 
conflict  with  standardization  but  is  a  step  beyond  it. 
Where  the  standard  is  wrong,  that  is,  when  the  stand- 
ard set  up  by  adults  is  not  a  real  measure  of  the  most 
desirable  ends  of  education,  it  is  to  the  child's  interest  to 
ignore  the  standard.  The  great  movement  for  tests  and 
standardization  that  is  now  going  on  is  just  the  experi- 
mental beginning  of  a  new  scientific  treatment  of  results 
in  education.  It  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  larger  move- 
ments to  study  children.  The  leaders  of  this  movement  do 
not  intend  to  ignore  child  interest  any  more  than  the  child 
student  intends  to  ignore  objective  results  of  teaching. 

The  teacher  of  to-morrow  must  know  the  standards 
of  education  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  children. 
Knowing  both,  he  must  harmonize  them.  The  entire 
idea  of  standardization  is  centered  in  the  problem 
of  using  the  better  schools  as  standards  to  which  to 
bring  up  those  that  are  not  reaching  children  as  they 
should.  Tests  and  measurements  are  being  developed 
to  help  in  this  work.  The  proper  use  of  interest  and  the 
development  of  the  better  interests  of  children  is  one 
standard  which  may  be  universally  applied,  and  which, 
if  lacking,  will  prevent  a  school  from  taking  its  place 
among  the  better  schools,  no  matter  how  many  objective 
accomplishments  its  pupils  may  have. 

In  surveying  a  school  the  following  tests  for  interest 
may  be  used  : 

1.  What  per  cent  of  the  children  come  early  to  school 
at  mornings  and  noons? 


108      MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

2.  Tabulate  carefully  just  what  they  do  at  these  times. 

3.  Ask  each  child  to  write  down  his  ten  favorite  occu- 
pations, being  sure  to  state  that  he  is  to  include  both 
those  in  school  and  those  outside  of  the  school.     Study 
the  influence  of  the  school  upon  his  choice  of  activity. 

4.  Ask  every  child  to  write  down  the  calling  he  intends 
to  follow  when  he  becomes  a  man.     Have  him  explain 
why  he  has  chosen  as  he  did. 

5.  What  school  subjects  does  he  like  best?     Why? 
Which  ones  does  he  dislike  most?     Why? 

6.  What  books  does  he  read  at  home? 
Get  the  extent  of  his  reading. 

Books  may  be  classified  as  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E  grade. 
It  will  help  a  teacher  to  make  such  a  survey  at  the 
beginning  of  a  school  year  and  again  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  In  comparing  the  two  he  can,  to  some  extent,  dis- 
cover the  influence  the  year's  work  may  have  had  upon 
the  interests  of  the  children.  He  is  also  furnished  with 
data  which  may  be  worth  a  great  deal  in  dealing  with 
practically  every  problem  which  may  arise  in  teaching  all 
subjects  and  in  the  control  of  the  school.  A  teacher  who 
discovered  that  a  child  had  a  collection  of  butterflies  at 
home  made  it  the  basis  of  a  closer  acquaintance  with 
him.  It  furnished  a  concrete  base  for  the  transforma- 
tion from  an  indifferent,  troublesome  attitude  into  one 
of  active  interest  and  cooperation. 

4.  In  Absence  of  Interest  Requirements  Are  Neces- 
sary until  Interest  Can  Be  Developed.  In  practicing  the 
doctrine  of  interest  one  must  admit  that  it  is  often  neces- 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   INTEREST   IN   PRACTICE     109 

sary  to  force  a  child  into  a  task  before  he  will  become  in- 
terested in  it.  There  is  sometimes  an  inertia  to  be  over- 
come. This  plan  is  legitimate  only  when  its  limits  are 
realized.  Too  often  the  advocate  of  such  methods  uses 
them  upon  all  occasions  and  continues  to  coerce  all 
through  his  teaching.  If  a  child  continually  rebels  against 
his  school  work,  something  is  wrong,  and  a  study  of  his 
peculiarities,  his  home  life,  and  his  parents  will  often 
give  a  clew  to  the  difficulty. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  development  of  an  interest 
after  a  period  of  set  requirements,  let  us  consider  the 
case  of  a  boy  in  the  lower  grades  who  did  not  want  to 
learn  to  read.  The  following  is  the  teacher's  report : 

Sept.  28.  J does  not  apply  himself.  His  health  is  good, 

and  his  handwork  is  excellent,  but  any  task  such  as  reading, 
arithmetic,  or  spelling  seems  to  develop  a  nervousness  in  him. 
He  plays  with  his  hands,  the  muscles  of  his  face  twitch,  and 
his  entire  body  seems  to  rebel  when  he  is  required  to  apply 
himself  mentally. 

Sept.  30.  Decided,  after  trying  my  best  and  not  being  suc- 
cessful in  interesting  him,  to  require  that  he  do  the  work 
assigned  to  the  class  each  day,  having  him  work  during  a 
part  of  the  handwork  period  on  his  reading  and  arithmetic. 
Have  not  given  up  the  idea  of  finally  interesting  him,  however. 

Oct.  5.  He  is  interested  in  finishing  his  tasks  so  that  he  may 
have  full  time  for  handwork.  He  is  showing  some  improve- 
ment. 

Oct.  10.  Was  the  best  in  the  class  to-day.  I  seized  upon  this 
opportunity  and  praised  him  highly. 

Oct.  21.  Is  showing  interest  in  the  subject  matter  that  is 
being  read. 


110       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  year  his  work  was 
considered  good  enough  not  to  necessitate  special  reports, 
and  he  was  promoted.  In  the  next  grade  his  teacher 
kept  him  interested  but  did  not  require  good  work  in 
the  subjects  that  were  hard  for  him.  She  encouraged  his 
handwork  and  allowed  him  to  remain  idle  during  the 
reading  period.  When  he  was  called  upon,  he  did  poorly 
and  was  reported  as  backward  in  this  subject.  At  the 
end  of  the  year  he  was  much  behind  his  class,  but,  since 
the  rules  of  the  school  forbade  failing  a  child  for  deficiency 
in  only  one  subject,  he  was  promoted. 

His  new  teacher  decided  that  she  would  make  a  special 
problem  of  him.  She  wrote  a  note  to  the  parents  asking 
them  to  come  and  confer  with  her.  They  came  and  she 
found  them  willing  to  cob'perate.  They  reported  that  he 
never  read  at  home,  but  that  they  would  give  him  special 
practice  for  fifteen  minutes  each  day  in  books  selected 
by  the  teacher.  Having  discovered  that  he  was  inter- 
ested in  ships,  the  ocean,  and  wild  animals,  she  selected 
"  The  Swiss  Family  Robinson,"  in  a  special  edition  of 
words  of  one  syllable.  This  book  was  quite  difficult 
for  him.  Following  this  the  teacher  and  the  parents 
kept  before  him  the  necessity  of  his  learning  to  read 
and  did  everything  they  could  to  interest  him.  In  all 
their  work  they  did  not  scold  or  mistreat  him  on  ac- 
count of  his  backwardness.  The  mother  soon  reported 
that  he  was  showing  a  marked  interest  in  the  story  of 
The  Swiss  Family  and  a  decided  improvement  in  his 
school  work  was  noted»  In  six  weeks  he  was  reading 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   INTEREST    IN   PRACTICE     111 

widely  and  had  become  one  of  the  best  readers  in  his 
grade. 

Summary 

If  a  teacher  keeps  in  mind  the  foregoing  propositions, 
his  practice  of  the  doctrine  of  interest  will  surely  produce 
good  results,  and  he  will  be  safe  from  running  counter 
to  other  principles  of  education.  For  working  con- 
venience these  propositions  may  be  summarized  as  be- 
low :  (l)  that  interest  is  the  central  guiding  principle  in 
the  child's  life,  but  that  it  must  be  subjected  to  adult 
guidance ;  (2)  that  interest  requires  hard  work  and  is 
only  a  pseudo-interest  if  it  turns  to  the  easier  tasks ;  (3) 
that  its  use  should  raise  the  standard  of  a  school  and 
bring  larger  and  better  results  as  measured  by  accepted 
standards ;  (4)  that  conflicting  interests  and  apparent 
aptitudes  to  do  wrong  are  a  part  of  every  child's  make-up 
and  must  be  dealt  with  in  a  helpful,  far-sighted  way; 
and  (5)  that  it  is  often  necessary  to  require  a  child  to  do 
what  is  good  for  him  until  such  time  as  his  interest  may 
be  developed,  remembering  never  to  cease  attempting  to 
interest  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  SCHOOL  SUBJECT  TAUGHT  THROUGH  INTERESTS 

Children  Interested  in  School  Subjects.  If  properly 
presented,  subjects  taught  in  school  are  interesting  to 
children.  In  order  to  develop  them  in  an  interesting  way 
the  teacher  must  relate  them  to  the  developing  interests 
of  the  children;  must  never  do  anything  to  make  them 
disagreeable,  never  make  the  accomplishment  of  a  school 
\  task  a  punishment,  and  always  insist  upon  and  bring 
out  the  joy  there  is  in  doing  profitable  work  well. 

All  subjects  have  some  specially  interesting  features. 
These  should  be  studied  and  brought  to  the  front  by  the 
teacher.  Let  us  consider  the  following  illustrations  : 

Arithmetic.  Many  children  are  natural  mathemati- 
cians. Whenever  one  is  found  the  teacher  should  take 
special  pains  to  keep  the  interest  alive.  Often  by  sug- 
gesting to  the  children  that  they  might  go  ahead  and 
learn  a  multiplication  table,  solve  some  advanced  prob- 
lems, or  some  like  work,  the  teacher  will  find  that  chil- 
dren who  have  not  been  good  at  the  regular  work  will 
take  special  interest  and  do  surprisingly  well.  The  best 
work  is  never  accomplished  until  the  development  of  the 
children  is  carefully  investigated  and  their  interests 

aroused. 

112 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       113 

Geography.  When  geography  is  made  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  world  and  its  life  and  connected  with  the 
everyday  life  of  the  child  rather  than  a  reading  and  re- 
citing of  facts  from  a  book,  most  children  find  it  a  re- 
markably interesting  subject.  They  are  interested  in 
primitive  life,  the  way  children  in  other  countries  live, 
in  how  their  own  clothes  were  made  and  brought  to 
them,  and,  above  everything  else,  in  travel. 

History.  The  knowledge  of  the  development  of 
peoples  is  a  remarkably  interesting  subject.  It  must 
constantly  be  related  to  the  child's  own  life  at  present. 
It  must  develop  gradually  from  the  purely  individu- 
alistic into  the  social.  It  must  constantly  have  the 
personal  touch. 

English  Taught  through  Interests 

As  an  illustration,  an  extended  discussion  of  teaching 
English  through  interests  is  given  here.  That  every  nor- 
mal child  is  interested  in  reading,  speaking,  and  writing 
his  mother  tongue  cannot  be  disputed.  It  is  only  when 
this  work  is  made  artificial  that  children  object  to  it. 
The  baby  mumbles  to  himself  and  to  any  one  else  who 
will  listen  to  him.  Just  as  soon  as  he  can  wield  a  pen- 
cil, he  wants  to  write.  Just  as  soon  as  he  learns  to 
recognize  a  few  letters,  he  wants  to  read  them  whenever 
he  gets  a  chance,  providing,  of  course,  that  some  of  his 
many  other  interests  are  not  claiming  his  attention  when 
a  book  is  thrust  upon  him. 


114      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Poetry  and  Rhythm 

The  most  fundamental  expression  of  the  language  in- 
terest is  that  of  reading,  memorizing,  and  constructing 
poetry.  Rhythm,  and  especially  word  and  song  rhythm, 
appeals  to  the  child  shortly  after  birth.  Geneticists 
have  pointed  out  that  the  world  and  solar  systems,  the 
seasons,  and  even  the  days  come  and  go  in  rhythm.  In 
the  child'  is  born  the  rhythm  of  the  heart  and  respiratory 
organs,  and  the  love  of  rhythm  ;  his  response  to  the  sooth- 
ing melody  of  the  lullaby  may  be  his  first  automatic  har- 
monizing with  nature.  The  mother's  instinct  to  sing  to 
her  child  and  rock  him  is  nothing  more  than  her  un- 
conscious adaptation  to  his  own  rhythmical  nature. 
The  singing  of  the  mother  leads  up  to  the  nursery  rhymes 
and  Mother  Goose  stories  which  fit  the  nature  of  all 
normal  children.  When  the  child  has  become  saturated 
with  his  Mother  Goose,  his  literary  education  has  gone 
far  along  its  way.  Most  children  in  this  period  begin  to 
construct  verses  of  their  own,  and  this  is  the  beginning  of 
literary  composition.  The  child,  like  the  race,  begins,  if 
he  begins  naturally,  with  composition  in  verse.  His 
words  come  with  the  sway  of  his  body  or  the  patter  of 
his  feet  or  with  the  drumming  of  his  hands. 

Let  us  take  for  example  a  few  rhymes  collected  by 
Norman  Triplett  in  his  observation  of  a  little  girl.  To- 
wards the  age  of  three  she  began  to  make  up  rhymes. 
The  first  one  was  written  down  when  she  was  just  past 
her  third  year.  Swinging  her  body  as  she  hung  to  the 
bed  post,  she  said : 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT    THROUGH   INTERESTS       115 

•  "I  wis'  I  were  a  baby, 
And  had  a  yittle  scare, 
I'd  jump  upon  the  bed, 
And  I  wouldn't  give  a  dare." 

On  seeing  a  worm  she  made  up  the  following : 

'Worm,  worm,  where  have  you  been? 
I  have  been  to  grow  in  the  nice  warm  ground, 
And  I  come  to  see  you  in  a  jaybenjay, 
And  a  seebensee  and  a  seebensay." 

And  with  a  bee  for  her  subject,  she  broke  out : 

"Wets  dance  a  yittle  song 
Said  the  yittle  honey  bee 
I'm  a  pretty  yittle  songer. " 


The  next  line  was  lost  to  the  observer. 

Triplett  observes  that  this  child  and  her  rhymes  is  but 
an  illustration*  of  what  the  great  mass  of  children  are 
doing.  This  is  especially  true  of  those  who  have  been 
brought  up  on  the  better  grades  of  child  literature. 

Poetry  in  School  Work.  Throughout  all  the  grades 
the  average  child  is  very  fond  of  rhythm,  alliteration,  and 
the  jingle  of  word  accents.  If  in  his  school  work  they 
represent  so  much  drudgery,  most  of  the  rhymes  the 
child  learns  there  are  dropped  as  soon  as  he  gets  outside 
the  door,  although  there  are  quantities  of  jingles  that 
he  would  gladly  learn  if  his  teacher  would  only  look  at 
that  side  of  his  nature  and  allow  him  to  do  so.  When 
the  school  has  failed  to  furnish  something ,  worth  while 


116       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

to  utilize  this  energy,  the  child  usually  expends  it  in  sing- 
ing some  low-class  rhythmic  jumble,  repeating  to  a  dron- 
ing tune  something  like  the  following : 

"I  know  something  and  I  won't  tell 

Three  little  niggers  in  a  peanut  shell." 
or 

"Mary  is  mad  and  I  am  glad,"  etc. 

This  does  not  entirely  satisfy  him,  but  since  he  does 
not  have  access  to  anything  else,  he  sings  away  until  he 
has  sung  the  love  for  rhythm  out  of  his  soul,  and  it  will 
be  hard  to  revive  it  again. 

Educational  Values.  If  plenty  of  good  material  is 
supplied,  the  children  will  revel  in  it,  will  read  widely, 
memorize,  and  if  encouraged,  will  compose  verses.  Their 
reading  is  in  this  way  furthered,  their  sense  of  appreci- 
ation developed,  and  a  motive  is  supplied  for  composition 
and  writing.  The  exercise  in  composition  may  take  up 
all  the  rules  of  punctuation,  capitalization,  etc.,  that  are 
taught  in  the  regular  language  lessons.  It  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  get  children  to  write,  punctuate,  and  spell  their 
very  best  in  order  to  make  their  verses  appear  the  best 
possible. 

Reading  and  Memorizing  Poems.  In  every  grade  an 
impetus  will  be  given  to  reading  and  literature  work  if  a 
large  amount  of  good  poetry  occupies  a  definite  place. 
Children  should  be  encouraged  to  memorize  as  many 
selections  as  they  will,  each  child  being  allowed  to  choose 
his  own  selections.  The  teacher  should  know  the  selec- 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       117 


tions  which  he  thinks  will  interest  the  class  and  should 
give  them  from  memory  as  well  as  read  them.  Unless  it 
is  impossible  to  interest  him  in  anything,  a  child  should 
not  be  required  to  memorize.  Many  splendid  poems  are 
detested  by  the  children  because  of  enforced  learning. 
We  must  constantly  keep  before  us  the  idea  that  our 
purpose  in  teaching  literature  is  to  develop  the  child's 
natural  interest  in  it  and  to  lead  this  interest  into  new 
fields,  developing  an  appreciation  of  the  best  literature. 
Memory  work  will  not  be  successful  until  the  children 
voluntarily  carry  it  on.  The  teacher,  of  course,  must 
give  suggestions  and  make  the  recitation  of  memorized 
verses  a  regular  part  of  the  program.  A  child  should 
never  be  required  to  memorize  literature  as  a  punishment. 
The  following  list  of  books  contains  child  poetry  suit- 
able for  the  first  eight  grades.  The  first  ten  furnish  ample 
material  and  are  preferred  by  the  children. 


R.  L.  Stevenson,      Child's     Garden     of 
Verses, 


E.  F.  Betts, 
Richards, 

Bellamy  and 
Goodwin, 
Burt, 

Patmore, 


Mother   Goose,    The 

Complete, 
In  My  Nursery, 


Open  Sesame, 

Poems  Every  Child 
Should  Know, 

The  Children's  Gar- 
land of  Verse, 


Rand,  McNally  & 
Company. 

Stoker 

Little,    Brown   & 
Company. 

Ginn  &  Co. 
Doubleday,  Page 
&Co. 

Macmillan  Co. 


118       MODERN 

Chisholm, 
Shute, 
Hazard, 
Tower, 

Lucas, 

Repplier, 

Whittier, 

Wiggin  and 

Smith, 
Wheeler, 

Norton, 
Field,  Eugene, 

Henley, 
Bryant, 

Lear,  Edward, 

Wiggin  and 
Smith, 

Matthews, 


ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 


The     Golden     Stair- 
case, 
The  Land  of  Song, 

Three  Years  with  the 

Poets, 
Gold      Nuggets      of 

Literature, 

Book    of    Verse    for 

Children, 
Book      of      Famous 

Verse, 
Child  Life  in  Poetry, 


Golden  Numbers, 

Mother  Goose 
Rhymes, 

Heart  of  Oak  Books, 
1  and  2, 

Love  Songs  of  Child- 
hood, 

Lyra  Heroica, 

New       Library       of 
Poetry  and  Song. 

Nonsense  Book, 


Posy  King, 

Poems   of   American 
Patriotism, 


Putnam's  Sons. 
Silver,  Burdett 

&Co. 
Houghton  Mifflin 

Co. 
Education 

Publishing 

Company. 

Holt. 

Houghton  Mifflin 

Co. 
Houghton  Mifflin 

Co. 

McClure. 
Houghton  Mifflin 
Co. 

Heath. 

Scribner's. 
Scribner's. 


Little,  Brown, 
&Co. 

Doubleday,  Page 
&Co. 

Scribner's. 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT    THROUGH   INTERESTS       119 

Olcott,  Story-Telling  Poems,        Houghton,  Mifflin 

&Co. 

Rossetti,  Sing  Song,  Little,  Brown, 

&Co. 

Field,  Eugene,          With    Trumpet    and 

Drum,  Scribner's.   *• 

Composition  in  Verse.  Children  from  the  second 
grade  through  the  eighth  respond  very  readily  to  the 
suggestion  that  they  write  verses.  A  verse  composition 
period  every  two  weeks  stimulates  interest  and  there  is 
usually  an  oversupply  of  material.  Each  child  may 
have  his  poetry  book  in  which  he  saves  his  best  verses. 
The  room  may  have  a  book  in  which  the  best  products 
of  the  class  are  written  down.  If  it  is  saved  from  year 
to  year,  this  book  will  prove  interesting  to  new  classes 
and  will  inspire  them  to  do  their  best  in  order  to  leave  a 
good  record  for  the  next  class. 

The  following  verses  were  taken  from  a  fourth-grade  book  : 

Night,  beautiful  night. 

The  Golden  stars  are  shining 

Against  the  blue  satin  lining. 

The  moon,  whose  face  is  so  tender, 

Has  dressed  in  silvery  splendor. 

Oh,  night,  beautiful  night, 
Thy  dress  is  silvery  bright, 
Shinest  too  thy  silvery  light, 
Night,  beautiful  night. 

Adrift,  Adrift,  Adrift,  Afloat, 
Baby  sails  in  a  silver  boat, 
Adrift,  Adrift,  Adrift,  Afloat, 


120      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Slumbering  in  the  peaceful  night. 
Slumbering  under  the  stars  so  bright. 
Soft,  airy  moonbeams  float  down 
Alight  on  baby's  snowy  white  gown. 
Adrift,  Adrift,  Adrift,  Afloat, 
Baby  sails  in  a  silver  boat. 
Adrift,  Adrift,  Adrift,  Afloat, 
The  stars  are  shining  o'er  her  head, 
While  baby's  asleep  in  her  downy  bed. 

Be  careful,  be  careful,  says  Kit  to  Kat, 

The  tree  is  very  tall, 

And  you  are  very  fat. 

Be  careful,  be  careful,  oh,  please  don't  fall. 

It  is  very,  very  dark. 

So  please  do  be  careful 

It  makes  me  so  scareful. 

Dip  the  little  stars,  O  moon, 
Dip  them  over  the  sky  so  soon, 
Tell  them  ever  to  behave, 
Tell  them  to  be  true  and  brave, 
Dip  the  little  stars,  O  moon, 
Dip  them  over  the  sky  so  soon. 

The  sonnet  given  below  was  written  by  a  high-school 
boy  who  had  done  considerable  verse  composition  in 
the  grades.  It  was  written  to  illustrate  the  peculiar 
structure  of  the  sonnet. 

To  MORNING 

O  Rosy  Dawn,  when  your  first  flushes  pink 
The  East,  then  purple  grow,  then  fade  to  blue, 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       121 

And  the  great  orb  of  light  with  golden  hue 

Shoots  his  ten  thousand  beamlets  o'er  day's  brink, 

And  all  the  stars  into  oblivion  sink ; 

When  all  the  world  is  bathed  in  cooling  dew, 

And  all  the  earth's  creatures  rise  to  life  anew, 

Man  wakes,  and  from  the  cup  of  time  doth  drinkc 

O,  who  can  tell  what  he  shall  drink  to-day 

Of  sorrows  or  of  joys  ere  night  will  come? 

Perhaps  he  may  be  turned  to  lifeless  clay, 

And  yet,  he  may  reach  fame,  or  foes  o'ercome. 

So,  not  on  death  he  recks  nor  has  a  care. 

Two  sides  of  life  he  knows,  but  views  the  fair. 


Special  Advantages  of  Verse  Composition  in  Grades 

Increases  the  Amount  of  Writing.  By  utilizing  the 
natural  interest  we  secure  opportunity  for  extensive  ex- 
ercise of  all  the  powers  that  are  involved  in  writing 
verses.  The  results  in  amount  of  written  work  done  by 
the  children  are  often  many  times  that  which  is  required 
in  regular  courses  of  study.  Longfellow  was  not  an  ex- 
ception when  he  wrote  the  jingle  of  "  Mr.  Finney's  Tur- 
nip "  during  an  hour  of  penance.  The  sonnet  ''To 
Morning  "  given  for  illustration  was  thought  out  by  a 
boy  who  carried  newspapers  in  the  early  morning.  The 
people  hurrying  to  their  work,  the  sky  as  he  watched  it 
each  morning,  and  the  animals  browsing  in  the  fields  ap- 
pealed to  him,  and  he  philosophized  with  this  sonnet  as 
a  result.  But  think  of  the  powerful  lever  a  natural 
interest  may  be  when  an  upper-grade  boy,  hurrying 
through  his  task  of  delivering  papers  in  the  early  morn- 


122      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

ing  while  his  teachers  are  still  asleep,  finds  time  to  busy 
himself  with  a  school  task,  and,  even  more  important,  one 
which  he  is  not  required  to  perform.  Some  verse  books 
of  certain  fourth-grade  children  represent  more  composi- 
tion in  one  term  than  is  required  of  a  college  class  in  Eng- 
lish composition  for  the  same  period.1 
/  Exercise  in  English.  The  work  should  represent  the 
best  children  can  do  in  writing,  spelling,  rules  of  punctu- 
ation, capitalization,  and  correct  usage.  The  interest 
in  making  verses  is  thus  being  used  in  teaching  the  regu- 
lar work  in  English.  In  this  work  children  often  ask  the 
teacher  to  furnish  lessons  in  punctuation  in  order  that 
they  may  be  able  to  write  their  rhymes  without  making 
mistakes.  The  use  of  the  dictionary  is  encouraged,  and 
crudities  in  expression  are  commented  upon  by  the  class, 
the  child  who  makes  them  being  required  to  correct  his 
work. 

Concrete  illustration  of  work  in  verse  writing,  eighth 
grade. 

Teacher :  This  is  our  day  for  original  poetry.  What 
have  you  been  writing  during  the  last  two  weeks?  (A 
20-minute  period  every  two  weeks  was  given  in  this 
case.) 

Several  hands  go  up.  Of  twenty-seven  children  four 
have  written  nothing ;  several  have  written  as  many  as 
six  different  poems.  One  girl  is  writing  a  "  play." 

Teacher  :  Our  time  is  limited.  Select  your  best  verses 
and  we  will  listen  to  as  many  as  we  have  time  for. 

1  This  statement  is  made  from  comparisons  of  actual  requirements. 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS      123 

A  child  reads  a  poem.  The  class  criticizes  it.  Most 
of  their  criticisms  are  complimentary.  Some,  however, 
point  out  deficiencies  which  may  be  improved. 

This  is  repeated  until  the  period  is  over.  The  teacher 
asks  the  children  to  pass  in  their  verses,  written  in  regu- 
lar form,  in  ink,  and  upon  regulation  composition  paper. 
Those  who  do  not  have  verses  are  required  to  pass  in 
compositions. 

These  papers  are  marked  and  the  criticisms  of  the 
teacher  discussed  at  the  next  composition  period. 

Composition  and  Theme  Writing 

Must  Be  Approached  from  the   Child's   Standpoint. 

This  often  disagreeable  part  of  English  instruction  is 
being  vitalized  and  made  interesting  to  children  by  being 
made  an  expression  of  their  inner  lives  rather  than  a  task 
laid  on  from  the  outside.  They  are  led  to  want  to  write, 
this  being  the  primary  aim  of  English  instruction.  After 
the  child  wants  to  write,  the  task  of  getting  him  to  want 
to  write  clearly  and  correctly  is  simplified.  On  the  es- 
tablishment of  both  of  these  desires  on  the  part  of  the 
children,  technical  features  are  met  and  solved  in  a  great 
deal  less  time  than  -under  the  old  method  where  the 
teacher  spent  all  his  time  with  the  subject  matter  he  had 
planned  to  teach,  ignoring  the  necessity  of  first  establish- 
ing a  desire  for  it. 

r  Children  Are  Naturally  Interested  in  Writing.  When 
one  considers  this  work  from  the  standpoint  of  the  chil- 
dren, he  finds  that  it  is  naturally  interesting  to  them, 


124      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

and  that  the  teacher  who  reports  his  class  "  dead  and  dis- 
interested "  is  usually  the  cause  of  the  condition.  Chil- 
dren delight  to  express  themselves  in  writing  when  this 
work  is  made  a  vital  part  of  their  lives.  In  harmonizing 
this  interest  with  the  process  of  improving  it  the  follow- 
ing principles  have  been  found  basic  : 

1.  The  subject  matter  of  the  class  in  composition  must 
be  primarily  the  subjects  about  which  children  write. 
The  correction  of  errors  is  permissible  only  when  chil- 
dren are  constantly  aware  that  they  have  something  to 
express  but  realize  that  they  have  difficulty  in  expressing 
it  in  a  manner  to  convey  best  their  thoughts.  The  task 
is  accomplished  by  holding  a  large  part  of  the  work  to 
a  discussion  purely  of  subjects  in  which  children  are  in- 
terested. Fluency  and  confidence  thus  precede  and 
accompany  the  development  of  accuracy. 

A  classroom  illustration:  Seventh-grade  teacher :  "As 
we  came  to  school  this  morning  we  noticed  the  beautiful 
hoar  frost  which  covered  the  grass  and  the  trees.  I 
have  heard  you  talking  about  it  and  am  interested  in  your 
descriptions.  I  have  heard  some  splendid  uses  of  ad- 
jectives in  your  descriptions  to  each  other.  Wouldn't 
you  like  to  try  to  describe  some  of  the  scenes  or  objects 
which  appeared  especially  attractive  to  you?  Let  us 
talk  them  over  first.  Then  as  we  write  we  will  try  to 
express  ourselves  in  a  manner  that  will  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible do  justice  to  the  picture  we  are  trying  to  describe. 
Close  your  eyes  and  think  of  the  appearance  of  the 
world  covered  with  its  glittering  coat.  It  appealed  to 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       125 

me  ih  a  way  that  is  beyond  my  power  to  express,  and  I 
know  that  some  of  you  will  think  of  words  and  sentences 
which  will  add  materially  to  my  own  thoughts.  Let  us 
try  to  help  each  other  appreciate  this  treat  nature  has 
given  us." 

The  children  volunteer  descriptions  of  scenes.  When 
they  reach  the  point  where  they  are  all  interested  in 
doing  their  best  to  describe  the  morning,  the  teacher  sug- 
gests that  each  write  his  description. 

A  further  illustration :  The  teacher  and  class  visit  a 
house  which  is  under  construction,  an  orchard,  a  factory, 
a  public  building,  a  river,  or  some  other  place  of  special 
interest.  The  class  recite  to  the  teacher  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  the  recitation  were  going  on  indoors.  They 
try  to  find  words  which  will  do  justice  to  the  situation 
as  they  see  it.  This  is  followed  by  writing  what  they  see. 

Pictures,  preferably  prints  of  the  great  works  of  art, 
are  brought  into  the  schoolroom.  The  children  singly 
and  in  groups  attempt  to  pose  the  picture  (posing  is  not 
profitable  above  the  fifth  grade).  They  interpret  it  as 
best  they  can.  This  is  followed  by  an  attempt  to  ex- 
press in  writing  the  feelings  and  thoughts  the  picture 
leaves  with  them. 

2.  Children  must  feel  that  what  they  write  will  be  of 
vital  interest  to  the  teacher  and  to  their  fellows.  Every 
opportunity  must  be  used  to  let  the  children  know  that 
what  they  write  means  something  to  someone,  aside 
from  the  fact  that  it  affords  an  exercise  in  English.  The 
teacher  should  refer  in  class  to  what  has  been  said  in  com- 


126      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

positions,  and  expect  the  theme  writing  to  be  looked 
upon  by  the  children  as  a  means  of  communication  with 
their  teacher  and  with  each  other.  If  a  boy  writes  of  a 
fishing  trip,  further  questioning  about  his  story  will  form 
a  nucleus  for  closer  relations  with  his  life  outside  of 
school  and  will  indicate  that  his  teacher  really  notes 
what  he  has  to  say  in  his  composition.  This,  in  itself, 
will  cause  him  to  be  more  accurate.  He  soon  learns  that 
what  he  cannot  tell  his  teacher  orally  may  be  fully  and 
adequately  expressed  in  written  composition. 

There  is  nothing  more  stimulating  to  good  work  in 
composition  than  the  feeling  that  someone  sympathizes 
with  and  wants  to  read  what  the  child  has  to  say.  He 
learns  then  to  pour  out  his  joys,  his  sorrows,  incidents  of 
interest  to  him,  his  plans,  ambitions,  hopes,  and  fears. 
A  teacher  cannot  hope  to  succeed  in  interesting  a  class 
unless  he  is  interested  in  each  child's  individual  life. 

Oral  English.  In  oral  English  the  same  procedure 
that  has  been  indicated  for  written  composition  is  neces- 
sary. We  must  first  develop  fluency  and  an  interest  in 
speaking  before  we  can  succeed  in  establishing  accuracy 
in  form.  The  methods  that  have  just  been  outlined  for 
written  composition  are  being  used,  as  well,  in  oral  com- 
position. When  the  child  reaches  the  place  where  he  is 
interested  in  his  speaking  and  wants  to  use  correct  forms, 
he  carries  the  work  out  of  the  schoolroom  into  his  every- 
day life.  No  amount  of  technical  schoolroom  require- 
ments can  equal  the  development  of  this  desire.  It  is 
impossible  to  get  worth-while  results  in  oral  English 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT    THROUGH   INTERESTS       127 

when  only  thirty  minutes  in  twenty-four  hours  are  de- 
voted to  it. 

A  boy  in  the  fourth  grade  was  heard  to  say,  —  "I 
don't  say  'ain't '  in  school  because  the  teacher  is  so  cranky, 
but  y'  betcher  life  I  make  up  for  it  when  I  get  outside." 
And  in  many  schools  the  sentiment  towards  correct  Eng- 
lish is  such  that  children  who  use  it  outside  of  classroom 
work  are  not  popular  with  their  associates.  The  atti- 
tude and  methods  of  the  teacher  are  to  be  blamed  for 
this  condition  of  affairs.  The  home  or  special  commu- 
nity may  be  a  partial  cause,  but  no  teacher  can  account 
for  complete  failure  to  arouse  a  better  attitude  towards 
correct  usage  by  transferring  the  blame  to  the  home. 
One  of  the  first  questions  in  surveying  a  teacher's  work 
in  English  is,  "  Has  he  been  able  to  establish  a  desire  for 
and  general  use  of  good  English,  or  do  his  personality  and 
methods  cause  the  children  to  dislike  and  suspect  it?  ': 

Story  Telling.  One  of  the  best  means  of  creating 
good  oral  English  is  story  telling.  It  is  being  given  a 
definite  place  in  all  grades,  but  a  marked  effort  is  being 
made  to  strengthen  it  in  the  upper  grades  because  it  has 
been  found  that  as  children  grow  older  their  love  for 
good  stories,  well  told,  does  not  diminish,  as  was  once 
thought,  but  increases. 

The  method  in  general  use  in  the  better  schools  is  to 
give  a  definite  place  in  the  week's  program  to  story  tell- 
ing. During  this  period  the  teacher  and  the  children  tell 
stories.  They  prepare  for  this  hour  by  practicing  their 
stories  until  they  can  tell  them  in  good  English  and  in  a 


128      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

way  to  interest  the  class.  This  method  provides  a  regu- 
lar period  for  the  refinement  of  oral  English.  By  pre- 
paring for  it  and  relating  it  to  the  deep  interest  in  stories 
which  is  a  part  of  every  child's  nature,  we  provide  an  or- 
ganized means  for  improvement.  This  method  is  much 
superior  to  the  old  way  of  merely  correcting  chance  er- 
rors heard  in  the  classroom.  The  teacher  still  continues 
to  correct  them  wherever  and  whenever  he  finds  it  help- 
ful to  do  so,  but  he  does  not  rely  entirely  upon  this  means. 
When  a  child  realizes  that  his  story  is  appreciated  more 
when  he  does  not  halt  in  speech,  use  the  "  run  on  "  con- 
struction, or  neglect  tense  and  number,  he  has  reasons  of 
his  own  for  learning  to  speak  correctly.  Children  under 
these  conditions  often  ask  the  teacher  to  correct  them 
and  point  out  the  mistakes  they  tend  to  make.1 

Interest  in  Literature 

Somewhere  between  eight  and  fourteen  years  there 
may  appear  a  stage  in  the  child's  life  when  he  takes  an 
interest  in  reading.  He  reads  for  his  own  pleasure  and 
picks  his  own  reading.  As  a  rule  he  does  not  care  for 
selections  that  his  teachers  have  chosen  for  him,  although 
a  teacher  who  understands  him  may  be  able  to  direct  his 
reading.  This  reading  interest  is  usually  not  developed 
in  the  classroom,  yet  it  is  just  as  important  as  anything 
that  may  be  accomplished  in  the  classroom  so  far  as 

1  A  list  of  stories  for  each  grade,  with  bibliographies,  is  furnished  in  a 
recent  book  by  Cross  &  Statler,  "  Story  Telling  in  the  Upper  Grades,"  Row, 
Peterson,  and  Co.,  Chicago. 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH    INTERESTS       129 

English  is  concerned.  But  since  it  does  not  come  under 
the  course  of  study  nor  turn  upon  the  books  that  are 
taught  in  the  classroom,  it  is  not  always  recognized  in 
school.  It  has  too  often  been  our  idea  to  develop  an 
interest  in  books  by  a  forced  study  of  them,  but  such 
forced  study  usually  kills  all  desire  to  read,  see,  or  even 
hear  about  such  books  for  the  remainder  of  life. 

The  difference  in  results  from  the  two  methods  —  the 
first  watching  for  the  interest,  feeding  it,  and  striving  to 
make  it  grow,  the  second  expecting  it  to  develop  as  the 
result  of  compulsory  work  and  assigned  tasks  —  cannot 
better  be  illustrated  than  by  two  examples.  The  first 
one  is  quite  widely  known ;  it  is  the  story  of  how  James 
Whitcomb  Riley  first  read  Ivanhoe,  but  it  furnishes  such 
an  illuminating  contrast  to  the  second  illustration,  also 
concerning  Ivanhoe,  that  both  are  given  here ;  the  two 
different  attitudes  with  all  their  results  can  be  portrayed 
in  no  clearer  manner. 

Riley  said  that  he  did  not  get  along  well  in  school. 
School  did  not  appeal  to  him ;  the  subjects  were  dull  and 
uninteresting. 

One  Friday  when  he  had  broken  most  of  the  rules  he 
was  asked  to  stay  after  school.  Instead  of  whipping  him, 
the  teacher  took  a  copy  of  Ivanhoe  from  his  desk,  when 
everyone  was  gone,  and  read  two  chapters  aloud  from  it. 

Riley  said  that  it  made  a  deep  impression  upon  him, 
and  he  asked  to  take  the  book  home.  For  the  next  two 
days  he  read  at  every  spare  moment  and  finished  the 
book.  He  became  interested  in  reading  other  books  and 


130      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

points  to  this  incident  as  the  beginning  of  everything 
worth  while  in  his  career. 

Bright  boys  and  girls  seem  to  be  a  great  deal  like 
Thackeray,  who  said,  "  I  had  a  natural  taste  for  every 
book  that  did  not  come  in  the  school  course." 

Let  us  compare  this  incident  in  the  life  of  Riley  with 
the  other  Ivanhoe  case.  A  high  school  freshman  was 
told  that  there  were  two  books  which  he  must  read  in 
his  freshman  year  for  his  English  requirements.  One  of 
these  was  Ivanhoe.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  book, 
his  mind  began  to  picture  it  as  a  ponderous  volume  full 
of  "  good  English,"  which  meant  to  him  so  much  drudg- 
ery. As  the  year  wore  along  he  kept  putting  off  his  task, 
but  he  finally  went  to  the  library  and  found  the  book. 
Its  cover  at  once  verified  all  his  suspicions.  There  it 
was,  the  heavy  volume.  Was  there  not  some  short  cut  ? 
Down  to  the  bookseller's  he  went,  and  there  he  found  a 
treatise  which,  it  was  claimed,  would  furnish  one  with 
all  the  necessary  facts  for  an  examination  on  Ivanhoe. 
The  little  book  was  purchased  and  read.  The  exami- 
nation time  at  last  appeared,  and,  true  to  the  claims  of  the 
advertiser,  the  boy  was  passed  with  a  good  grade  on  his 
knowledge  of  Ivanhoe. 

"  About  six  years  later/'  he  continues,  "  I  was  shut 
up  in  a  small  town  with  nothing  to  do  or  to  read.  As  I 
searched  the  shelves  of  the  village  school  for  something 
that  might  be  of  interest,  the  old  loathing  was  again 
awakened  at  finding  a  copy  of  Ivanhoe.  With  many 
misgivings  I  again  started  to  read  the  book  which  had 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       131 

been  fought  off  so  strenuously  in  high  school.  But  as 
the  pages  went  by,  I  found  that  I  could  not  leave  it. 

"  Since  that  time  I  have  hunted  up  other  books  which 
had  gone  the  way  of  the  '  concise  treatise/  David  Copper- 
field,  Silas  Marner,  and  other  treasures.  In  most  cases 
I  have  had  about  the  same  awakening  as  occurred  with 
Ivanhoe." 

The  amount  and  the  type  of  reading  a  child  is  doing 
outside  the  requirements  of  the  school  is  a  good  test  of 
the  efficiency  of  instruction  in  literature.  When  chil- 
dren develop  a  dislike  for  high  class  literature,  the  method 
of  teaching  it  should  be  revised. 

Importance  of  Forming  a  Habit  of  Independent  Reading 

Reading  is  a  means  of  development  which  is  open  to 
everyone.  An  interest  in  reading  has  often  made  the 
difference  between  a  common  and  a  great  man.  Those 
who  have  had  no  other  opportunities  have  educated 
themselves  entirely  through  reading,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  who  have  had  the  best  of  schooling  find  it 
hard  to  go  far  if  they  have  not  formed  a  taste  for  im- 
proving literature. 

President  Eliot  of  Harvard  has  said  of  the.  reading  in- 
terest :  "  From  the  total  training  during  childhood  there 
should  result  in  the  child  a  taste  for  interesting  and  im- 
proving reading  which  should  direct  and  inspire  his  sub- 
sequent intellectual  life.  That  schooling  which  results 
in  this  taste  for  good  reading,  however  unsystematic  or 
eccentric  this  schooling  may  have  been,  has  achieved  a 


132       MODERN    ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

main  end  of  elementary  education;  and  that  schooling 
which  does  not  result  in  implanting  this  permanent  taste 
has  failed.  Guided  and  animated  by  this  impulse  to  ac- 
quire knowledge  and  exercise  his  imagination  through 
reading,  the  individual  will  continue  to  educate  himself 
all  through  life.  Without  that  deep-rooted  impression 
he  will  soon  cease  to  draw  on  the  accumulated  wisdom  of 
the  past  and  the  new  resources  of  the  present,  and  as  he 
grows  older  he  will  live  in  a  mental  atmosphere  which  is 
always  growing  thinner  and  emptier. 

"  Do  we  not  all  know  many  people  who  seem  to  live 
in  a  mental  vacuum,  —  to  whom,  indeed,  we  have  great 
difficulty  in  attributing  immortality  because  they  ap- 
parently have  so  little  life  except  that  of  the  body  ?  Fif- 
teen minutes  a  day  of  good  reading  would  have  given 
any  one  of  this  multitude  a  really  human  life.  The  up- 
lifting of  the  democratic  masses  depends  upon  this  im- 
planting at  school  of  a  taste  for  good  reading. " 

Almost  every  great  man  is  a  great  reader.  Very  few 
can  be  found  who  do  not  point  to  their  reading  as  an 
important  factor  in  their  development.  Let  us  consider 
the  value  of  a  reading  interest  in  the  life  of  Thackeray. 
What  is  true  of  him  is  representative  of  what  will  be 
found  in  the  biographies  of  most  exceptional  persons.  /. 

In  his  boyhood  he  went  to  three  different  schools,  and  did 
extremely  poor  work  in  all  of  them.  All  his  life  he  was  deeply 
disgusted  with  the  English  schoolmaster.  He  says,  "I  always 
had  my  doubts  about  the  classics.  When  I  saw  a  brute  of 
a  schoolmaster  whose  mind  was  as  coarse  as  any  ploughboy's 


A  SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS      133 

in  Christendom,  whose  manners  were  the  most  insufferable 
of  all  heaven's  creatures,  whose  lips,  when  they  were  not 
mumbling  Greek  and  Latin,  were  yelling  out  the  most  brutal 
abuse  of  poor,  cowering  little  gentlemen  — .  A  man  will 
slap  you  on  the  back,  and  call  you  names  because  you  won't 
learn,  but  I  never  could  take  the  proffered  delicacy.  The 
fingers  that  offered  it  were  too  dirty." 

This  picture  is  representative  of  his  boyish  experiences  with 
schoolmasters.  T.  F.  Boyes,  one  of  his  companions,  says  of 
him.  "No  one  in  those  early  days  could  have  believed  that 
there  was  very  much  work  in  him,  or  that  he  would  ever  rise 
to  the  top  of  any  tree  by  climbing." 

Thackeray's  one  passion  seemed  to  be  vested  in  reading 
novels.  He  says,  "I  had  a  natural  taste  for  every  book  that 
did  not  fall  into  the  school  course."  Even  late  in  life  he 
cherished  the  idea  of  retiring  to  the  country  and  feasting 
on  books. 

He  says  the  following  of  his  first  novel,  "As  some  bells 
are  ringing  hard  by,  making  a  great  holiday,  clanging  in  the 
summer  afternoon,  I  am  reminded,  somehow,  of  a  July  day 
years  and  years  ago  in  a  garden,  and  there  was  a  great 
clanging  of  bells.  I  remember  a  little  boy  lying  in  that 
garden  reading  his  first  novel.  It  was  called  The  Scottish 
Chiefs." 


Reading  has  played  a  large  r61e  in  the  lives  of  successful 
men  in  all  fields.  It  served  as  a  foundation  to  the  legal 
practice  and  public  career  of  Lincoln.  Edison  says  that 
he  early  learned  to  "  tear  the  heart  out  of  a  book."  A 
successful  scientist  recently  said,  "  I  believe  that  my 
spontaneous  reading  has  educated  me  a  thousand  times 
as  much  as  did  my  schooling." 


134       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

The  Development  of  the  Reading  Interest 

Good  Taste  a  Matter  of  Growth.  A  number  of  men 
who  have  acquired  the  reading  habit  say,  when  ques- 
tioned, that  they  went  through  different  stages  of  de- 
velopment in  their  choice  of  books.  Some  of  them  read 
hundreds  of  the  five-cent  paper-back,  blood  and  thunder 
stories,  such  as  Buffalo  Bill,  Tip  Top  Weeklies,  Jesse 
James,  Diamond  Dick,  and  Nick  Carter.  They  passed 
through  this  kind  of  reading  like  a  traveler  journeying 
through  a  country  never  to  return  again.  Gradually 
they  grew  out  of  it,  and  ever  afterwards  such  stories 
merely  aroused  their  disgust.  Girls  go  through  the 
Augusta  Jane  Evans  and  Mary  J.  Holmes  stage  in  some- 
what the  same  manner. 

Teachers  and  parents  should  learn  that  such  reading 
does  not  always  result  in  evil.  A  forced  check  to  it  often 
results  in  secrecy.  One  man  says  that  he  had  hundreds 
of  Jesse  James  stories  hidden  in  the  barn  loft.  Many 
gangs  of  boys  circulated  among  their  members  all  of  these 
books  they  could  get  hold  of. 

A  man  whose  reading  taste  is  quite  cultivated  tells  of 
its  development  in  the  following  words  : 

"  I  graduated  from  five-cent  Nick  Carters  to  ten-cent 
novels ;  then  I  went  to  Sherlock  Holmes,  and  next  to  the 
Edgar  Allan  Poe  type  of  reading.  This  was  at  the  age 
of  ten  or  twelve  (somewhat  younger  than  ordinary). 
Soon  my  reading  became  a  source  of  great  delight,  and 
at  about  thirteen  I  went  into  pseudo-psychological, 
scientific,  and  mystic  works/7 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       135 

Later  he  read  all  the  works  of  Herbert  Spencer.  Then 
he  read  Darwin,  Pearson,  and  Hall.  Finally  he  took  up 
the  study  of  eugenics  and  is  now  holding  a  responsible 
position  as  lecturer  on  this  subject.  His  reading  pre- 
pared him  to  gain  a  graduate  degree  at  one  of  the  greatest 
American  universities,  yet  his  schooling  was  not  enough 
to  give  him  the  ordinary  high  school  diploma. 

Age  of  Beginning.  The  reading  interest  has  usually 
started  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  twelve.  And 
although  it  may  start  earlier  or  later  than  this  period, 
in  those  with  whom  it  stays  eleven  is  the  age  at  which  it 
most  often  begins.  Statements  of  persons  who  have 
acquired  the  taste  for  good  literature  are  given  below : 

1.  "  From  about  the  age  of  ten  I  have  been  interested 
in  books  and  reading.     They  have  always  held  a  kind  of 
mystic  charm  for  me.     Whenever  as  a  boy  I  saw  a  large 
case  of   books,   I  would   be  overcome  by  a  feeling   of 
reverence  and  awe.      This  reading  interest  was  started 
at    home.      My   father    and    mother   used    to    read    to 
each   other  and   talk  about  the  books  they  had  read. 
Their  reading  fascinated  me,  and  I  began  to  read  for 
myself/' 

2.  "  My  interest  in  books  started  when  I  was  about 
eleven  years  old.     Previously  I  had  followed  mechanical 
pursuits,  but  several  causes,  among  them  a  teacher  who 
had  become  a  companion  to  me,  led  me  to  develop  an 
interest  in  reading.     At  that  time  I  traded  a  lathe  - 
I  had  saved  for  years  to  get  the  money  to  buy  it  —  for 
a  set  of  encyclopedias." 


136      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

3.  "  At  the  time  my  brothers  were  hunting  and  fish- 
ing I  turned  to  books.  My  mother  noted  this  and  sup- 
plied me  with  all  the  books  she  could  afford.  I  never 
cared  for  outdoor  sports  much  after  that.  At  present 
my  chief  delight  is  in  reading." 

Developing  Interest  in  Literature  at  School 

Morning  Exercises.  At  morning  exercises  it  is  a  good 
custom  to  read  selections  from  different  authors,  —  as 
Kipling,  Burns,  Tennyson,  and  others.  When  the  chil- 
dren are  interested,  the  teacher  may  announce  that  the 
book  from  which  he  has  read  will  be  on  his  desk,  and 
that  those  who  wish  may  borrow  it.  If  the  teacher  has 
chosen  wisely,  the  book  is  likely  to  be  read  by  a  large 
portion  of  the  class. 

Regular  School  Period.  One  of  the  best  methods  of 
stimulating  this  interest  is  to  give  a  school  period  a  week 
to  it.  The  regular  English  lesson  for  that  day  is  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  books  that  have  been  read  during  the 
week.  The  results  are  apt  to  justify  all  the  school  time 
spent  in  this  manner.  It  makes  a  most  interesting  period 
to  the  children,  and  the  descriptions  of  books  lead  others 
to  read  them. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  individuals.  These 
differences  between  individuals  are  to  be  enlarged  upon 
rather  than  blotted  out.  We  could  not  overcome  them  if 
we  wished,  and  we  should  not  wish  to.  Undoubtedly, 
the  person  who  is  interested  gets  more  than  the  one  who 
isn't ;  but  that  is  life.  We  have  ignored  individual  in- 


A   SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH    INTERESTS       137 

terests  too  long  in  our  schools  in  attempts  to  bring  the 
backward  child  up  to  a  plane  that  he  himself  cares  nothing 
about  coming  up  to ;  and  in  doing  it  we  have  ruined  in- 
terests which  might  have  been  developed  far  beyond  any 
school  requirements. 

Someone  has  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  how  long 
it  would  take  an  ordinary  high  school  boy  to  read  all  the 
books  covered  in  the  regular  literature  of  the  first  eight 
grades.  The  time  it  took  him  was  pitifully  short.  Be- 
low is  given  an  illustration  of  what  an  eighth-grade  boy 
did  in  one  half-year  under  the  plan  of  one  period  a  week 
spent  on  what  the  children  were  reading  outside  of  class 
with  free  discussion  among  the  children.  The  books  were 
read  by  a  boy  who  was  about  average  in  a  class  of  twenty. 

Books  and  magazine  articles  read  by  an  eighth-grade 
boy,  September  1  to  January  30  : 

BOOKS  MAGAZINES 

By  William  A. : 

1.  A  West  Point  Cadet,  1.   Seven     Numbers     of 

Capt.  Malone.  American  Boy 

2.  A  West  Point  Lieutenant, 

Capt.  Malone. 

3.  A  Texas  Blue  Bonnet, 

Emilia  Elliott. 

4.  Blue  Bonnet's  Ranch  Party, 

Emilia  Elliott. 

5.  Two  Ways  of  Becoming  a  Hunter, 

Harry  Castleman. 

6.  The  Missing  Pocket  Book, 

Harry  Castleman. 


138       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 
BOOKS 

7.  The  Haunted  Mine, 

Harry  Castleman. 

8.  Elam  Storm, 

Harry  Castleman. 

9.  Frontier    Boys    in    the    Grand 

Canyon, 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

10.  Frontier  Boys  in  Colorado, 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 

11.  Winning  His  Y, 

Barbour. 

12.  Whispering  Smith, 

Spearman. 

13.  Captain  Chub, 

Barbour. 

14.  Crimson  Sweater, 

Barbour. 

15.  Williams  at  West  Point, 

Hugh  Johnson. 

16.  Last  of  the  Mohicans, 

James  Fenimore  Cooper. 

The  teacher  should  keep  a  record  of  the  books  that  are 
preferred  by  the  children.  Then  from  time  to  time  he 
can  make  lists  and  post  them  for  those  who  wish  to  read 
interesting  books.  The  lists  posted  should  contain  only 
good  literature.  It  will  be  noted  that  some  of  the  books 
reported  in  the  list  given  are  not  what  may  be  called  "  A  " 
class.  The  teacher  must  be  careful  not  to  attempt  to 
force  taste,  and  although  he  should  not  refer  them  to 
lower  class  literature,  he  need  not  rail  against  it.  The 


A  SUBJECT   TAUGHT   THROUGH   INTERESTS       139 


taste  for  good  literature  is  developed  by  surrounding 
children  with  high-class  books  suited  to  their  interests. 
When  they  get  to  where  they  choose  Kipling,  Dickens, 
Alcott,  and  like  authors  of  their  own  accord,  the  end  is 
achieved. 

A  list  of  authors  whose  books  are  both  interesting  to 
children  and  excellent  literature  is  furnished  here  for  those 
who  find  difficulty  in  selecting  books  to  meet  the  two  re- 
quirements. The  number  of  children's  books  written  by 
an  author  is  placed  after  his  name,  but  the  numbers  do 
not  include  all  the  books  by  an  author. 


Adams,  Joseph,  2 
Alcott,  Louisa  May,  16 
Aldrich,  Thomas  Bailey,  21 
Andersen,  Hans  Christian,  5 
Andrews,  Jane,  5 
Baldwin,  James,  6 
Barnes,  James 
Beard,  Daniel  Carter,  4 
Beard,  Lina,  2 
Blaisdell,  A.  F.,  4 
Blaisdell,  M.  F.,  2 
Blackmore,  Richard  D. 
Blanchard,  Amy 
Boyesen,  Hjalmar,  2 
Brooks,  Elbridge  Streeter,  5 
Bunyan,  John 
Burroughs,  John,  3 
Butterworth,  Hezekiah,  2 
Cervantes,  Miguel  de 
Chapin,  Anna  Alice,  3 


Chubb,  Percival,  2 
Clemens,  Samuel  L.+ 

(Mark  Twain) 
Coffin,  C.  C.,  5 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  2 
Cross,  Mary  A.  E. 

(George  Eliot) 
Custer,  Elizabeth  B. 
Dana,  Richard  Henry 
De  Foe,  Daniel 
Dickens,  Charles  + 
Dodge,  May,  3 
Dodgson,  Charles  L. 
Dopp,  Katherine  E.+ 
Du  Chaillu,  Paul 
Eggleston,  Edward,  3 
Ewing,  Julia,  5 
Field,  Eugene,  2 
Foote,  Anna,  2 
Gordon,  Chas.  W. 


140       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 


Grimm,  J.  L.  and  W.  C.,  3 
Hale,  Lucre tia  P.,  2 
Hale,  Edward  Everett,  8 
Harris,  Joel  C.,  5 
Howells,  William  Dean,  3 
Hughes,  Thomas 
Jewett,  Sarah,  3 
Johnston,  Annie  F. 
Kaler,  James  Otis,  2 
Kingsley,  Charles,  2 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  6 
Knox,  Thomas  Wallace 
Lagerlof,  Selma 
Lang,  Andrew  (Editor),  3 
Long,  William  J.,  5 
Mabie,  Hamilton  W.,  5 
McDonald,  Etta,  8 
MacDonald,  George,  3 
Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  2 
Miller,  Joaquin 
Mitchell,  S.  Weir 
Moores,  Charles  W.,  2 
Morley,  Margaret  W.,  6 
Nicolay,  Helen 
Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  3 
Parkman,  Francis,  2 
Porter,  Jane 
Pyle,  Howard,  6 
Rame"e,  Louise  de  la 
Richards,  Laura  E.,  4 


Riley,  James  Whitcomb  + 
Roberts,  Charles  G.  D.,  2 
Roosevelt,  Theodore  + 
Saunders,  Marshall 
Scott,  Sir  Walter  + 
Scudder,  Horace,  4 
Seawell,  Molly  E.,  4 
Seton,  Ernest  Thompson,  7 
Spyri,  Johanna,  3 
Stevenson,  Robert  L.+ 
Stockton,  Francis  R.,  4 
Stoddard,  William  Q.,  2 
Stowe,  Harriet  B. 
Stuart,  Ruth  McEnery,  2 
Swift,  Jonathan 
Tappan,  Eva  March  + 
Taylor,  Bayard 
Tomlinson,  Everett 
Verne,  Jules 

Warner,  Charles  Dudley,  2 
Weed,  Clarence  M.,  4 
Whitney,  Adeline,  3 
Wiggin,  Kate  Douglas,  5 
Wiggin,    Kate    Douglas    and 

Archibald  N.,  5 
Wilkins,  Mary  Eleanor,  3 
Wright,  Henrietta  C.,  2 
Wright,  Mabel  O. 
Wyss,  Johann 
Yonge,  Charlotte  Mary,  3 


CHAPTER   VII 

UTILIZING  A  COMMON  INTEREST 

Illustrations  of  Interests  which  May  Be  Used  as  Incentives 

The  Social  Interests.  The  desire  to  do  better  work 
when  others  are  present,  the  interest  in  cooperation,  com- 
petition, etc.,  furnish  incentives  for  good  work  in  school. 
These  have  been  given  detailed  consideration  in  the 
last  three  chapters  of  this  book. 

Interest  in  the  Opposite  Sex.  This  plays  a  part  in 
every  phase  of  life  and  becomes  of  greater  importance  as 
the  children  increase  in  age.  The  teacher  cannot  afford 
to  ignore  it.  The  old  method  of  prohibition  of  every  in- 
terest in  each  other  by  boys  and  girls  did  not  succeed. 
Whether  this  interest  will  become  an  uplifting  influence 
in  the  life  of  a  child  or  a  degrading  one  will  depend  upon 
how  it  is  dealt  with.  Many  boys  as  well  as  girls  are 
stimulated  to  successful  effort  by  it. 

Interest  in  Investigation.  This  has  been  made  a  large 
factor  in  instruction  by  all  successful  teachers.  Froebel 
in  "  The  Boyhood  of  Man  "  tells  us  that  it  is  a  mistake 
not  to  select  our  subject  matter  with  this  interest  in  view, 
for,  he  says,  when  it  is  neglected,  a  valuable  feature  of 
the  child's  nature  is  likely  to  suffer  for  want  of  function. 

He  mentions  the  study  of  botany  as  an  example.     When 

141 


142       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

the  child  is  not  encouraged  to  investigate  flowers  until 
he  gets  into  high  school,  the  time  is  likely  to  have  passed 
when  he  can  become  interested  in  this  study.  We  must 
seize  upon  this  interest  whenever  it  appears  and  give 
due  recognition  for  independent  investigation  in  any 
subject  at  any  time. 

The  Dramatic  Interest 

The  dramatic  interest  has  been  chosen  for  detailed 
treatment  in  this  chapter  because  it  is  receiving  a  great 
deal  of  attention  in  modern  practice.  It  has  been  used 
with  the  greatest  success  in  such  schools  as  the  Francis 
Parker  School  and  the  Speyer  School. 

The  tendency  to  express  our  thoughts  and  feelings  not 
only  in  language  but  through  gesture  and  bodily  atti- 
tude is  common  to  the  race.  Hall  and  some  of  his  stu- 
dents have  studied  the  dramatic  instinct  and  have  fairly 
well  established  its  racial  character.1  It  finds  expression 
all  through  life  and  is  not  confined  to  any  one  period. 

Use  and  Misuse 

Dramatization  furnishes  a  splendid  medium  for  the  in- 
teresting study  of  school  tasks.  Its  benefits  will  depend 
upon  how  wisely  it  is  used.  The  dramatic  instinct  is 
not  used  as  much  as  it  should  be  in  the  average  school, 
but  in  some  schools  it  is  much  overdone  and  not  organized 
to  advantage. 

The  advantages  of  a  wise  use  of  this  interest  are : 

1  Curtis.     The  Dramatic  Instinct.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  143 

1.  The  child's  natural  love  for  full  bodily  expression  is 
utilized  in  making  school  life  and  unpleasant  duties  less 
irksome. 

2.  The  more  bodily  expression  we  have  in  school,  the 
less   children  will  suffer  through  enforced   confinement. 
The  dramatic  is  a  step  toward  a  less  sedentary  program. 
The  large  values   of  this  new  tendency  are  given  in  a 
special  chapter  in  this  book. 

3.  The  natural  emotional  life  of  children  is  given  op- 
portunity for  proper  expression.     The  feelings  are  being 
given  more  attention  in  education  than  heretofore,  and, 
as  the  basic  element  of  mental  life,  they  deserve  it.     There 
is  purification  in  proper  emotional  expression,  and  when 
children  have  opportunity  for  such,  they  are  likely  to 
be  more  wholesome  in   their  reaction  towards   the  me- 
chanical side  of  school  work  and  in  their  lives  outside 
of  school. 

4.  Facts  are  better  remembered  when  experienced  in 
this  manner.     The  lesson  is  expressed  more  fully  than 
reading  and  ordinary  recitation  could  bring  about ;    the 
mind  is  ready  and  eager  for  the  work ;    and  more  repeti- 
tion under   concentrated   attention  may  be  demanded. 
These  are  special  features  of  economic  learning  as  estab- 
lished by  psychological  experiments,  —  full  expression  by 
the  learner,  a  slight  emotional  state  to  give  the  attention 
an  edge,  and  constant  repetition. 

5.  A  motive  for  special  preparation  is  furnished.     The 
child  is  to  give  his  interpretation  of  a  chosen  piece  of 
history;  civics,  or  literature  to  his  fellows.     This  brings 


144       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

up  a  real  life  situation.  Beyond  the  result  in  the  teacher's 
grade  book  is  the  reception  of  his  work  by  his  fellows. 
This  feature  alone  is  full  justification  for  large  use  of  the 
dramatic.  The  more  life  motives  and  actual  life  experi- 
ences we  bring  into  school  the  better  will  be  the  results 
of  education. 

Some  disadvantages  due  to  misuse  are : 

1.  Overstimulation     and     lack     of    effort.      Children 
often  become  overstimulated  and  take  merely  a  superficial 
attitude  toward  their  work.     The  teacher  may  do  too 
much  of  the  work  for  them  and  not  demand  study  and 
thoughtful  reactions.     Classes  in  serious  work  may  thus 
drift  into  a  continuous  discussion  of  how  to  write  plays, 
and  too  much  time  will  be  spent  in  dramatizing  and  act- 
ing parts  of  the  work  to  be  covered  while  other  more 
important  parts  are  neglected. 

2.  Too   much  dramatization.     Too  much  dramatiza- 
tion, even  though  carefully  selected  and  well  organized, 
is  possible.     This  is  only  one  of  a  large  number  of  life 
interests  and  it  can  be  overworked. 

Dramatizing  History 

In  the  lower  grades  most  of  the  history  work  is  taught 
through  action.  Thus,  little  need  be  said  about  such 
work  before  the  fourth  grade.  In  the  study  of  primitive 
life  the  children  build  huts  or  wigwams,  make  pottery, 
weave  baskets,  make  bows  and  arrows,  and  act  as  wild 
men  act  while  they  are  studying  these  men.  In  some 
places  the  children  go.  so  far  as  to  form  communities 


UTILIZING  A   COMMON   INTEREST  145 

out  of  doors  and  carry  on  the  different  occupations  of 
the  community  in  their  childish  dramatic  interpretation. 

But  as  we  go  upward 'through  the  grades  there  is  more 
and  more  "  seat  work."  Teachers  seem  to  think  that 
the  children  have  passed  the  time  when  they  desire  to 
express  in  action  what  they  learn,  and  that  the  time  has 
now  come  to  learn  merely  to  recite. 

A  child  learns  of  the  adventures  of  John  Smith  of 
Virginia  from  his  book,  tells  it  to  his  teacher,  and  then 
is  supposed  to  know  it.  He  is  given  no  chance  to  put 
himself  into  the  life  of  the  time  through  making  a  play 
of  the  exploits  of  Smith,  and  then  realizing  his  funda- 
mental instinctive  nature  by  acting  it.  His  final  meet- 
ing with  Smith  is  probably  in  the  examination,  where 
his  old  friend  is  brought  forth  to  remind  him  of  his  in- 
ability to  memorize  the  contents  of  a  textbook.  As  the 
classes  are  usually  conducted,  only  the  most  striking 
events  in  Smith's  career,  if  we  continue  with  Smith  as  a 
type,  are  learned ;  nor  can  we  expect  anything  more  to 
be  learned. 

The  many  little  incidents  and  settings  that  go  along 
with  these  more  striking  things  and  make  up  the  real 
history  of  the  people  under  consideration,  their  customs, 
their  worries,  and  their  methods  of  seeking  pleasure  are 
rarely  felt  by  children  who  study  history  through  recita- 
tions and  examinations  only.  A  dramatization  of  one  of 
the  many  features  in  the  life  of  Smith  given  at  the  close 
of  the  study  of  this  section  of  American  history  reveals 
many  facts  which  otherwise  would  not  have  been  noted, 


146      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

and  which  along  with  many  of  the  things  already 
learned  are  clinched  in  the  minds  of  the  children.  At 
the  close  of  the  work  interest  culminates  in  the  play, 
which  may  be  given  to  the  entire  school.  The  usual 
dull  review  which  is  to  be  followed  by  a  test  cannot  be 
compared  with  the  dramatic  review. 

For  an  example  of  this  sort  of  work,  a  play  that  was 
composed  and  written  by  sixth-grade  children  under  the 
guidance  and  help  of  a  teacher  is  given  on  page  148,  to 
indicate  what  may  be  expected  of  an  average  group  in 
this  grade.  It  is  by  no  means  the  best  sixth-grade 
product  that  could  be  shown.  It  is  regarded  as  valuable 
because  it  is  average.  It  is  presented  to  emphasize  the 
point  that  most  teachers  can  do  dramatic  work  with 
their  children.  The  more  work  of  this  kind  that  is  done, 
the  easier  it  will  become. 

Method  of  Constructing.  The  method  of  constructing 
a  play  will  depend  upon  the  previous  training  and  ex- 
perience of  the  children.  If  they  have  not  had  much 
experience  in  dramatizing,  the  teacher  may  lead  them  by 
suggesting  a  plot  and  characters.  The  pupils  then  give 
their  ideas  of  what  should  be  included,  but  the  teacher  is 
the  judge  of  what  shall  eventually  go  into  the  play. 
Each  member  of  the  class  keeps  a  record  of  the  play  as 
it  progresses,  and  each  one  is  supposed  to  study  his  his- 
tory in  order  to  be  able  to  throw  light  upon  any  char- 
acter or  any  speech  he  is  to  make.  Such  considerations 
as  whether  or  not  a  character  would  make  the  speeches 
that  are  proposed,  reckoning  from  his  personal  char- 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  147 

acter,  his  interests,  his  place  in  history,  and  the  customs 
of  his  times,  may  furnish  material  for  profitable  discus- 
sions. Real  thought  is  called  for  by  this  kind  of  history 
work,  and  careful  study  usually  accompanies  the  con- 
struction of  a  play  if  the  teacher  works  to  stimulate  it. 

The  teacher  must  not  be  overcritical.  A  sensitive  child 
is  likely  to  withdraw  from  participation  in  the  discussion 
if  his  notions  are  not  given  due  respect.  Sometimes  it 
is  even  better  to  use  a  speech  or  direction  of  an  inferior 
type  in  order  to  make  the  play  representative  of  the 
entire  class.  Anyone  knows  that  the  teacher,  should  be 
able  to  write  a  better  play  than  the  class  could  work  out. 
But  a  finished  play  is  the  last  thing  that  is  to  be  sought  in 
this  kind  of  work.  Children  care  for  macrocosms,  not 
microcosms,  and  everyone  who  views  children's  produc- 
tions should  understand  this.  As  children  continue  with 
such  work  they  show  wonderful  improvement. 

If  the  class  is  fairly  good  in  English  composition  and 
has  had  some  dramatic  work,  the  teacher  may  allow  each 
child  to  write  a  portion  of  the  play  each  day  for  his  his- 
tory and  English  work.  This  can  be  done  more  quickly 
and  with  better  results,  if  the  class  as  a  whole  decides 
upon  characters  that  are  to  be  represented,  and  also  if 
the  general  structure  of  the  play  is  first  settled  upon. 
Then  the  teacher  can  go  over  them,  select  the  best  plays, 
and  read  them  to  the  class.  Something  from  the  work  of 
each  child  should,  if  at  all  possible,  be  chosen.  The 
class  may  then  decide  upon  some  of  the  special  speeches 
and  settings.  After  the  teacher  and  the  class  have 


148       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

chosen  the  characters  and  those  who  are  to  play  the  parts, 
each  character  may  be  allowed  to  work  over  his  part, 
and  if  there  is  anything  that  he  thinks  he  could  better 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  correct  interpretation  of  the 
character  he  is  to  play,  he  should  be  allowed  to  state  his 
position,  and  if  it  is  good,  he  should  be  allowed  to  change 
the  speeches  or  settings  that  are  not  suitable.  Children 
who  have  had  much  practice  are  able  to  work  out  the  parts 
of  characters,  and  these  can  then  be  worked  together  by 
the  class. 

CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH 

This  play  was  written  and  given  by  the  children  of  the 
sixth  grade  under  the  direction  of  the  practice  teacher,  Miss 
Anna  B.  Davis,1  Training  School,  State  Teachers  College  of 
Colorado. 

Scene  1. 

Setting :  Landing  scene  in  Virginia. 

Characters :  Smith,  Gosnold,  two  guides,  several  men,   cap- 
tain of  the  ship,  Father  Newport,  few  Indians. 
Scenery :  Rocks,  chest,  charter,  chains,  flag  of  England,  cos- 
tumes. 
(Captain  and  all  his  men  enter.     Smith  follows  led  by  two 

guides. 

Indians  peek  behind  trees). 
Smith  —  Captain,  now  that  we  are  off  the  ships,  may  I  be 

released  ? 
Captain  (gruffly)    Release  Smith.     Now  bring  forth  the  chest, 

Gosnold,  with  the  charter. 

(Chest  is  brought,  opened  by  captain,  and  he  hands  the  charter 
to  father  Newport.) 

1  Under  the  training  teacher,  Miss  Amy  Foote,  an  American  History 
play  is  given  each  year.  The  punctuation,  capitalization,  and  spelling  of 
these  illustrations  are  those  of  the  children. 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  149 

Captain  —  We  will  let  Father  Newport  read  the  charter. 

Father  Newport  reads  —  I,  the  sovereign  power  of  England, 
grant  to  you,  my  people,  all  the  privileges  of  free  persons, 
native  of  England,  in  such  a  manner  as  if  you  were  born 
and  personally  resident  in  said  realm  of  England,  and 
you  shall  have  a  government  according  to  such  laws  as 
shall  be  by  myself  or  you  established;  so  that  the  said 
laws  conform  or  agree  as  nearly  as  possible  with  those 
of  England,  and  do  not  oppose  the  Christian  faith,  or 
in  any  way  withdraw  the  people  in  those  lands  from  our 
allegiance.  For  carrying  out  these  laws  for  the  sovereign 
power  of  England,  I  do  appoint  from  among  you  colonists 
the  following :  Gosnold  as  governor,  Winfield,  Ratcliff, 
and  Smith  as  subject  to  his  rule.  These  above  mentioned 
men  shall  govern  the  colony  of  Virginia  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  above  stated. 

Signed  :  King  James  I,  of  England. 

(All  salute  Gosnold  as  governor). 

Captain  —  This  would  be  a  lovely  place  for  a  settlement. 

Gosnold  —  What  are  those  funny  brown  people  behind  the 
trees  looking  for  ? 

(Indians  always  peeping  from  behind  trees). 

Ratcliff  —  Trees  are  plentiful  for  building,  and,  indeed,  there 
is  a  fine  stream.  This  is  an  ideal  place  for  a  settlement. 
What  say  you  governor? 

Captain  —  I  say  let  us  have  Gosnold  plant  the  flag. 

(Gosnold  takes  the  flag  to  center  of  stage ;  all  surround  him 
and  kneel  to  the  flag). 

Gosnold  —  I,  governor  of  Virginia,  take  possession  of  this 
land  for  our  king,  James  of  England.  The  settlement 
shall  be  called  Jamestown  in  honor  of  that  great  sovereign. 

Father  Newport  —  Aye,  Aye. 

(Crosses  himself  and  all  bow  heads). 
Curtain. 

Scene  2. 

Setting :  Powhatan's  settlement. 

Characters :  Pocahontas,  Indian  maidens,  Powhatan,  Indian 
braves,  Smith. 


150       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Scenery :  Trees,  wigwam,  corn,  clubs,  stones,  log,  skins,  blan- 
kets, costumes.  i 
(Powhatan  is  seated  on  a  log  with  Indian  braves  gathered 
around  him.  Pocahontas  is  seated  at  the  side  of  the 
stage  with  Indian  maidens  around  her.  As  the  curtain 
goes  up,  loud  yelling  is  heard  off  the  stage,  and  all  turn 
in  that  direction.  Smith  is  brought  in  by  the  Indians. 
He  is  bound  in  ropes.) 

First    Indian  —  (To    Powhatan)    Captured    heap    big    pale 

face  medicine  man.     Know  too  much. 

Second  Indian  —  Talk  to  stars,  (points)    Much  wise  pale  face. 
First  Indian  —  Capture  one.     Kill  two. 
Second  Indian  —  What  do  with  him  ? 

Indian  maidens  show  much  curiosity. 
Powhatan  (grunts)  —  Hold  council  to  see  if  pale  face  live  or 

die.     (Powhatan  and  his  men  go  to  one  side  to  hold 

council).     (Smith  is  noticing  Pocahontas  who  now  comes 

up  to  him). 

Smith  — (Giving    Pocahontas    a    mirror)    Here    is    something 

for  you  my  pretty  maiden. 

Pocahontas  doesn't  seem  to  know  how  to  handle  it.  Smith 
shows  her  how  to  look  into  it.  Then  she  shows  it  to  the 
other  Indian  girls. 

Pocahontas  —  Any  more  for  Pocahontas  ? 
Smith  —  Yes,  here  are  some  beads  for  you. 

(These  she  also  gives  to  other  Indian  Maidens.) 

Pocahontas  — (Returning  to  Smith)  Tell  Pocahontas  where 
pale  face  came  from. 

Smith  — (Sitting  beside  Pocahontas)  I  came  from  a  land 
far  across  the  great  sea.  It  is  called  England.  One 
time  when  I  was  a  little  boy,  I  wanted  to  go  and  fight 
for  my  country.  I  had  to  fight  a  tribe  called  the  Turks. 
These  people  were  mean  and  cruel  and  our  fight  was 
hard.  While  there,  I  was  chosen  by  our  side  to  fight 
one  of  these  Turks  by  myself.  I  killed  him  and  likewise 
two  others,  who  attempted  the  same  thing.  At  last  we 
were  taken  as  prisoners  and  sold  into  slavery.  My  master 
was  mean  and  cruel,  but  I  finally  escaped  and  returned 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  151 

home.     When  I  reached  England,  a  crowd  of  men  were 
going  to  come   to  this  country.     We   landed   near   here 
and  made  a  settlement  we  called  Jamestown  in  honor  of 
our  — 
(Powhatan  and  braves  come  over  hurriedly). 

Powhatan  —  Pale  face  knows  too  much.     Heap  bad.     Must 

die.     I  hold  war  dance. 

(All  Indians  except  Pocahontas  and  Powhatan  dance  around 

Smith). 

Pocahontas  —  (Kneeling  before  her  father)  Save  pale  face 
for  Pocahontas. 

Powhatan  —  No,   Away,   bring   clubs   and   stone.     Pale   face 

must  die. 

(Stone  and  clubs  are  brought  and  Smith's  head  is  placed  on 

stone) . 

Pocahontas  —  (quickly  kneeling  before  Powhatan)  No  kill 
good  pale  face.  Pocahontas  no  want  you  to. 

Powhatan  — Why? 

Pocahontas  —  He  gave  Pocahontas  this,  (shows  mirror) 
and  this  (shows  beads). 

Powhatan  —  No,  Pale  face  must  die.  Away,  Pocahontas. 
Strike. 

Pocahontas  —  (Bending  over  Smith  and  sheltering  him  from 
the  upraised  clubs)  No  kill  him.  Pocahontas  like  him. 
Heap  good  Pale  face. 

Powhatan  —  Away  braves.  (Leads  Pocahontas  forward.)  Po- 
cahontas, you  are  my  brave  little  daughter. 

Smith  —  (Who   has   been   unbound)    (Placing    his    hand    on 
Pocahontas'  head)    God  bless  you  child ;  God  save  you  for 
this  brave  act.     You  are  a  heroine. 
Curtain. 

Scene  3 
Setting :  Jamestown,  Virginia. 

Characters :  Maidens,  Pocahontas,  Smith,  Settlers,  Rolfe, 
Powhatan,  Indian  braves,  Ratcliff,  Winfield. 

Scenery :  Chairs,  benches,  flags,  inside  of  a  house. 


152       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Smith  —  It  is  about  time,  Father  Newport,  that  the  maidens 
were  arriving  from  England. 

Rat  cliff  —  Ah,  you  weary  me  talking  about  those  maidens 
from  England.  They  are  always  on  your  mind. 

Winfield  —  Yes,  I  do  say.  Let's  go  fishing,  Smith.  I  wonder 
where  Rolfe  is. 

Ratcliff  —  I  wouldn't  wonder  if  he  hadn't  gone  fishing  himself. 
(Rolfe  enters  by  back  door). 

Winfield  —  Hello,  Rolfe,  we  were  just  speaking  of  you.  Where 
have  you  been? 

Rolfe  —  I  have  been  to  the  ships.  Here  are  some  letters 
from  England. 

Ratcliff  —  Have  the  ships  arrived  ? 
Rolfe  —  Yes,  just  this  moment. 

Smith  —  I  told  you  so,  and  here  come  Father  Newport  and 
the  Maidens  now.     Welcome  to  you  all. 
(Father  Newport  and  maidens  enter.     Among  the  latter 

are  Miss  Betsy,  Miss  Katheryn,  Miss  Molly.) 

Father  Newport  —  Captain  Smith,  this  is  Miss  Betsy.  (Betsy 
courtesies.)  Captain  Smith  this  is  Miss  Katheryn.  Cap- 
tain Smith  this  is  Miss  Molly.  Sir  John  Rolfe  this  is 
Miss  Betsy,  Miss  Molly,  and  Miss  Katheryn.  (All 
courtesy). 

Betsy  — We  had  a  lovely  trip  but  it  seemed  so  long  before 
we  reached  our  settlement. 

Pocahontas  —  (Comes  in  hurriedly  and  runs  up  to  Smith) 
Ah,  Pale  Face  Smith,  the  Indians  are  coming,  and  I  fear 
they  are  going  to  kill  us.  Kill  me  too?  Hide  Poca- 
hontas. 

Rolfe  —  May  I  hide  Pocahontas  ? 
Smith  —  Yes,  but  be  careful. 

Katheryn  —  Oh,  here  come  some  horrid  Indians. 
(Men  get  their  guns.) 

Smith  —  No,  Men,  put  down  your  guns.     We  will  greet  them 
as  friends. 
(Powhatan  and  braves  enter.) 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  153 

Smith  —  Why,  Friend  Powhatan,  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  ? 

Are  we  not  friends  ? 
Powhatan  —  Heap  big  Pale  face,  afraid  you  take  lands  from 

me. 
Smith  —  No,  indeed.     We  have  a  crown  for  you  from  King 

James  of  England.     Bring  the  crown  men. 
Powhatan  —  Crown  for  me  ? 

Smith  —  Yes,  and  here  it  is.     Kneel  now  Powhatan. 
Powhatan  —  I  no  like  to  kneel. 

(Men  push  Powhatan  down  on  his  knees). 
Smith  —  (Placing   crown  upon   his   head)    Just   a  fit  ?     Now 

you  are  king  of  Virginia. 

Powhatan  —  (Rising)    Heaps  good  pale  face  men. 
Smith  —  (Grasping    Powhatan's    hand)    Let    us    be    friends 

from  now  on  in  this  new  world. 

Curtain. 
The  End. 

A  history  play  should  be  as  true  to  life  as  it  is  possible 
to  make  it,  and  the  children  should  get  their  material 
from  real  history  whenever  it  is  available.  The  children 
could  not  get  a  copy  of  the  charter  for  this  play,  although 
they  made  a  good  search.  They  went  over  a  number  of 
books  and  undoubtedly  learned  much  from  such  work. 
They  did  find  copies  of  other  charters,  and  the  clauses 
in  their  play  charter  were  made  with  the  knowledge  of 
how  other  charters  read.  In  Smith's  story  of  his  former 
life  the  experiences  that  he  related  to  Pocahontas  were 
based  upon  the  "  Life  of  John  Smith/'  but  his  giving  of 
presents  and  the  entire  conversation  were  imagined  by  the 
children.  They  felt  as  if  Smith  had  given  her  some- 
thing in  order  to  win  her  sympathies.  Such  reasoning 
will  compare  well  with  discussions  in  college  classes  as 


154       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

to  what  certain  characters  in  fiction  said  and  did  when 
the  author  does  not  state.  Take,  for  example,  the  dis- 
cussion of  whether  Portia  in  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice  " 
meant  to  give  Bassanio  a  hint  of  the  right  casket  in  the 
little  song  that  the  players  gave  while  he  was  choosing. 
If  such  discussions  are  valuable  in  the  study  of  fiction  by 
advanced  classes,  they  are  decidedly  so  in  the  study  of 
history  by  sixth-grade  pupils. 

In  presenting  their  play,  the  individuality  of  the 
children  was  allowed  full  realization.  In  criticizing,  no 
definite  directions  about  how  to  play  a  part  were  given 
by  the  teacher,  but  the  child  was  told  to  think  just  how 
the  character  he  was  interpreting  would  act  on  the 
occasion  in  question.  The  scenery,  costumes,  and  stage 
management  were  all  taken  care  of  by  the  children,  a 
stage  manager  having  been  selected  from  among  them. 
The  teacher  often  gave  him  suggestions,  but  stayed  in 
the  background  as  much  as  possible.  All  this  will  de- 
pend upon  the  versatility  of  the  pupils  and  their  experi- 
ence. All  announcements  to  the  audience  should  be 
made  by  a  stage  manager.  The  teacher  should  work 
towards  entire  management  by  the  class,  but  this  can- 
not be  expected  too  soon. 

English 

The  value  of  all  this  work  to  the  English  of  the  stu- 
dent cannot  be  estimated.  Every  pupil  keeps  a  record 
of  the  play  as  it  progresses  each  day.  His  copy  should 
be  in  good  penmanship,  and  the  punctuation  should  be  an 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  155 

example  of  his  best.  The  large  amount  of  punctuation  in 
writing  a  play  makes  a  very  valuable  exercise  in  this 
field,  and  its  value  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not 
"  punctuation  for  punctuation's  sake  "  or  "  just  punc- 
tuation study/'  but  the  child  has  his  very  real  life  reason 
for  the  use  of  punctuation  in  his  play.  He  has  a  motive 
for  it.  The  same  is  true  for  spelling  and  capitalization. 

The  work  of  making  up  the  speeches  of  the  different 
characters  has  a  value  added  to  that  of  ordinary  composi- 
tion, for  here  the  study  of,  and  an  insight  into,  human 
character  is  necessary  in  order  to  conceive  what  a  speech 
is  to  be.  The  children  soon  learn  that  each  play  has  its 
funny  person,  its  villain,  its  hero,  and  its  heroine.  They 
also  take  greater  interest  in  and  have  greater  insight  into 
the  significance  of  plays  that  are  studied  in  literature 
after  having  constructed  a  few  themselves. 

Children  can  usually  be  prevailed  upon  to  make  the 
English  in  their  plays  an  example  of  their  best,  but  the 
teacher  must  be  careful  in  this  and  stop  before  the  interest 
has  been  killed  on  account  of  her  too  critical  attitude 
towards  structure.  Improvement  will  be  more  likely  to 
result  as  evolution  rather  than  revolution.  After  long 
practice,  if  continued  attention  is  given  to  this  side  of 
the  work,  the  child  shows  great  improvement.  It  is 
well  to  allow  him  the  opportunity  to  construct  beyond 
his  ability  to  reach  perfection. 

Another  great  advantage  that  arises  from  the  con- 
struction of  their  own  plays  is  the  increased  confidence 
that  it  gives  children.  When  a  child  realizes  that  he 


156       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

can  make  a  play  that  is  appreciated  by  an  audience 
and  that  such  work  is  not  the  product  of  geniuses  or 
wizards,  his  enthusiasm  to  do  original  work  is  likely 
to  increase.  Children  write  long  plays  outside  of  regular 
class  work  and  bring  them  to  class  to  consult  with  their 
teachers.  Recently  in  our  school  a  group  of  children 
found  their  own  subject  and  asked  the  teacher  to  help 
them  with  it  outside  of  the  regular  school  sessions,  volun- 
teering to  spend  an  hour  a  day  until  they  were  ready  to 
play  it.  This  illustrates  the  highest  aim  of  education,  as 
has  been  mentioned  before.  Whenever  a  child  shows  a 
desire  to  do  such  work,  the  teacher  should  note  it  and 
give  him  due  recognition.  A  girl  in  the  eighth  grade 
read  at  home'  a  large  number  of  the  plays  of  Shake- 
speare after  being  started  in  this  manner. 

A  dramatization  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  is  given  as  repre- 
sentative of  such  work  in  English.  The  children  began 
this  story  with  the  knowledge  that  they  could  dramatize 
it  if  they  desired  to.  As  they  neared  the  end  of  the  study 
each  one  wrote  out  an  entire  dramatization  of  the  story. 
The  eighteen  little  plays  from  which  this  one  was  made 
are  now  on  file.  The  best  ones  were  selected  and  some 
of  them  were  read  to  the  class.  The  final  product  repre- 
sents a  combination  of  the  work  of  every  student  in  the 
class.  When  such  a  story  is  dramatized  and  played,  it 
goes  into  the  hearts  of  the  children  and  will  never  be  en- 
tirely forgotten.  The  child's  consciousness  that  he  is 
actually  representing  a  character  causes  him  to  feel  the 
position  of  that  character  more  strongly  than  any  amount 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON    INTEREST  157 

of  reading  would.     The  piece  becomes  a  part  of  him  and 
he  a  part  of  it. 

DRAMATIZATION   OF   RIP   VAN   WINKLE 

(This  was  done  by  an  eighth  grade. 
Act  1,  Scene  1. 

Scenery.     The  home  of  Rip  Van  Winkle,  a  very  neat  place, 

with  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the  room  and  chairs  around. 

A  fire  place  at  one  side.     As  the  curtain  goes  up,  we  see 

Rip  talking  to  his  dog. 
Rip.  —  Poor  Wolf,  we  have  a  hard  time  of  it. 

(Enter  Dame  Van  Winkle). 
Dame — (Sweeping  floor)    Idle   again   you   lazy  man.     Why 

are  you  not  out  in  the  garden  working?     You  sit  around 

from  morning  till  night  and  what  you  do   amounts  to 

absolutely  nothing.     I'd  be  ashamed  of  myself  if  I  were 

as  lazy  as  you. 

(She  chases  Rip  out,  threatening  him  with  the  broom). 
Rip  —  (as  he  goes  out)    Guess  I'll  take  a  stroll  down  to  the 

tavern  where  I  can  have  a  jolly  time  with  friends. 

(Dame  Van  Winkle  goes  to  empty  cupboard  and  sighs 

as  she  goes  out) 

(Enter    children,    who    chase    around    and    knock    down 

chairs,  and  Dame  Van  Winkle  conies  in  and  shakes  the 

boy) 

Dame  —  Now  young  man  you  pick  up  that  chair. 
Boy  —  Oh,  mother's  so  cross.     She  is  scolding  all  the  time. 
Girl  —  Yes,  and  poor  Papa,  he  never  does  have  a  good  time 

at   home. 

(Enter  Dame  Van  Winkle  going  to  cupboard) 
Boy  —  Say,  Ma,  may  I  have  a  piece  of  bread? 
Dame  —  No,  there  isn't  any,  and  your  father  is  too  lazy  to 

go  out  and  work  for  any.     Now  you  children  get  out  of 

here  and  get  to  work  in  the  garden. 
Curtain. 


158       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Ar>t  1.     Scene  2. 

Scenery.     Before  the  King  George  Inn,  with  a  tree  to  one 

side.     At  the  door  of  the  inn  stands  the  inn  keeper.     Under 

the  tree  are  chairs  upon  which  are  seated  Dutch  farmers 

talking  about  their  crops. 
Inn  Keeper  —  (Filling  cups  with  Ale)    Well,  I  see  there  was 

quite   a   frost   last   night.     You   fellows   got   your  crops 

all  in? 
Brom  Butcher  —  Yah,  I  tell  you  vot,  I  got  mine  all  right. 

But  Rip,  I  tell  you  vot,  the  frost  his  all  got. 
Nicholas  Veder  — Yes,  I  know  Rip  didn't  get  his  in  because 

he  has  been  helping  me. 
Brom  Butcher  —  Veil,  Veil,  here  he  comes  now. 

(Rip  enters  looking  downcast  but  when  he  sees  his  friends, 

brightens) 

Van  Bummel  —  Come  on,  come  on,  Rip,  and  join  us. 
Rip  —  (Brinking   Ale)    Well,    Brom   Butcher,    how   goes   the 

work  in  the  field?     Need  any  help? 

Everyone  —  What  about  your  own  crops,  Rip  ?     (Laughter) 
Rip  —  (leaning  back  in  his  chair)    Well,  as  I  was  saying  — 

Enter  Bame  Van  Winkle. 
Bame  —  Here  you  are,  lazy  man,  you  loaf  here  at  the  tavern 

and  never  turn  your  hand  to  do  a  thing  useful.     Here  it 

frosted  last  night  and  the  pumpkins  are  all  spoiled.    Our 

fence  is  down,  and  the  cow  has  gone.     Oh,  if  I  had  my 

broom. 

(Waves  her  hands  and  chases  Rip  out) 
Bame  — (turning  to  inn  keeper)    Well,  what  are  you  smiling 

about.     You  are  the  very  cause  of  Rip's  laziness.     Oh 

if  I  only  had  my  faithful  broom. 

(Exit  Bame  Van  Winkle.) 

(As  Curtain  goes  down,  the  men  shake  their  heads  anc 

say,  "Poor  Rip") 

Scene  3,  Act  1. 

Scenery.     Rip  going  up  the  mountain  with  his  dog  and  gun. 
Rip  —  Well,  it  is  getting  pretty  late.     I  must  be  going  home 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON    INTEREST  159 

Voice  —  (In  hollow  drawnout  tone)    R-i-p  V-a-n  W-i-n-k-1-e, 
R-i-p  V-a-n  W-i-n-k-1-e, 
(Rip  looks  around  but  sees  nothing) 

Voice  —  R-i-p  V-a-n  W-i-n-k-1-e. 

(Enter  little  man  with  keg  on  his  shoulder  and  he  motions  Rip 

to  come  and  help  him) 
Rip  —  Why,  that  must  be  one  of  the  villagers.      I  will  go  and 

help  him. 
(Rip  and  little  man  carry  keg  across  stage.     Curtain  drops 

quickly,  and  then  rises,  and  we  see  little  men  playing 

ten  pins.     Enter  little  man  and  Rip.) 

Rip.     My  but  that  was  a  heavy  keg. 

(Little  men  motion  for  Rip  to  pour  them  some  ale.  Rip 
obeys  and  while  they  are  playing  he  drinks,  until  he  falls 
asleep.) 

Curtain. 

Scene  4,  Act  1. 

Scenery.     The  tavern  scene  with  Dutch  farmers,   discussing 

the  disappearance  of  Rip. 
Inn  keeper  —  Wonder  where  Rip  has  been  keeping  himself. 

I  haven't  seen  him  for  two  or  three  days.     My  how  I 

miss  him.     He's  such  a  jolly  old  chap. 

Farmer  Jones  —  E's  promised  to  'elp  me  in  my  cornfield, 
but  I  'avn't  seen  him  this  week.  E's  so  obligin'. 

Another  Farmer  —  Kind  o'  thought  he  would  be  around  to 
help  me  with  the  pumpkins,  but  he  hasn't  showed  up 
this  week.  I  surely  miss  the  old  fellow. 

Van   Bummel  —  (laughing)   Wonder   if   his   wife   scared   him 
out.     (everyone    laughs)    Poor    old    fellow.     He    has    a 
hard  time  of  it  and  all  the  children  of  the  village  look  lost 
without  him. 
(Enter  Dame,  peering  about  her) 

Dame  —  What  have  you  lazy  fellows  done  with  my  husband  ? 

He  hasn't  been  home  for  three  days,  and  the  fields  are 

all  going  to  waste. 
Inn  keeper  —  Don't  know,  Ma'am,  hasn't  been  around  here. 


160       MODERN    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Nicholas  Vedder  —  I  saw  him  going  hunting  with  his  com- 
panion, Wolf. 

Dame  —  Yes,  but  the  old  cur  came  home. 

Van  Bummel  —  Perhaps  he  shot  himself.  I'll  go  and  see  if 
I  can't  find  him. 

Farmer  Jones  —  The  Indians  might  have  carried  him  away. 

Dame  —  Shot   himself,    Indians,   indeed.     Oh,  he'll   be   home 
to  get  something  to  eat. 
(Exit  Dame) 

Inn  keeper  —  I  wonder  where  Rip  is. 

(As  curtain  goes  down  Rip's  friends  shake  their  heads.) 

Act  5,-  Scene  1. 

Scenery,  a  mountain  scene.     As  curtain  goes  up  we  see  Rip 

asleep  on  dry  leaves. 
(Rip  lies  asleep  for  awhile  then  stirs  and  wakes  up.) 

Rip  —  (rubbing  his  eyes)  Have  I  been  asleep  all  night  ? 
(arises)  What  will  Dame  Van  Winkle  say?  Wolf,  Wolf, 
Wolf,  (Whistles)  Oh,  he'll  be  back  pretty  soon,  I  guess. 
He  is  just  chasing  a  rabbit.  (Picks  up  rusty  gun  barrel) 
Why,  this  is  not  my  gun.  Those  little  mountain  scoun- 
drels. They  just  gave  me  that  wine  to  get  my  gun. 
Well,  I'd  better  hurry  home  now.  (Stops)  What  ex- 
cuse shall  I  make  to  Dame  Van  Winkle? 

Curtain. 

Scenery.  —  Union  hotel  in  the  rear.  To  right  is  a  flag  pole 
from  which  stars  and  stripes  wave.  As  the  curtain  rises  a 
group  of  politicians  are  seen  about  the  door. 

A  man  —  (Waving  his  arms)  The  rights  of  citizens  must  be 
observed.  What  did  George  Washington  and  the  heroes 
of  76  fight  for  if  not  for  liberty? 

Rip  —  Oh,  that  wicked  flagon.     It  has  addled  my  poor  he* 
sadly.     As  I  passed  through  the  village  I  saw  no  01 
that  I  saw  last  night.     I  see  strange  faces  at  the  windows 
strange  names  on  the  doors,  and  my  own  house  has  gone 
to  decay.     The  doors  are  off  their  hinges  and  the  winder 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON    INTEREST  161 

shattered.  A  half  starved  dog,  that  looked  like  Wolf, 
my  very  own  dog,  growled  at  me.  Dame  Van  Winkle 
was  not  there.  I  called  for  my  children  but  my  house 
was  empty,  so  I  came  here  to  find  some  friends,  but  they 
are  gone  too,  and  these  men  are  strangers  to  me. 
What  has  become  of  the  old  tree?  Is  that  a  night  cap 
up  there?  (Men  stroke  their  chins  and  so  does  Rip, 
and  he  finds  that  he  has  grown  a  foot  beard)  And  what 
has  happened  to  my  beard?  (goes  over  to  look  at  picture 
of'  George  Washington)  Why,  that  is  not  a  picture  of 
King  George.  My,  where  am  I?  I  thought  I  knew 
every  one  but  these  men  are  strangers. 

Orator  —  (Drawing  Rip  aside)    On  which  side  do  you  vote  ? 
Another  —  Are  you  Federalist  or  Democrat  ? 

Gentleman  —  What  brought  you  to  election  with  a  gun  on 
your  shoulder? 

Rip  —  Alas,  Gentlemen,  I  am  a  poor  man,  a  native  of  the 
place,  and  a  loyal  subject  of  the  king,  God  bless  him. 

The  Crowd  —  A  Tory,  a  Tory,  a  spy,  a  refugee,  hustle  him, 
away  with  him. 

Orator  —  He  came  here  to  do  no  harm,  but  just  to  look  for 
friends. 

Man  —  Well,  who  are  they  ?     Name  them. 
Rip  —  Where's  Nicholas  Vedder  ? 

Man  —  Nicholas  Vedder  ?  Why  he  is  dead  and  gone  these 
eighteen  years.  There  was  an  old  wooden  marker  in 
the  churchyard  that  used  to  tell  all  about  him,  but  it  too 
has  rotted  and  gone. 

Rip  —  Where's  Brom  Dutcher? 

Another  —  Oh,  he  went  off  to  the  war.  Some  say  he  was 
killed  at  the  storming  of  Stony  Point.  Others  say  he 
was  drowned  in  a  squall  at  the  foot  of  Anthony's  Nose. 
I  don't  know.  He  never  came  back. 

Rip  —  Where's  Van  Bummel,  the  schoolmaster? 

Another  —  He  went  off  to  the  war  too.  He  was  a  great  militia 
general  and  is  now  in  Congress. 


162      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Rip.     Full  of  despair  —  Does  nobody  know  Rip  Van  Winkle? 

A  Man  —  Oh,  Rip  Van  Winkle,  there  is  Rip  Van  Winkle 
leaning  against  a  tree. 

A  Man  —  Who  are  you  and  what  is  your  name  ? 

Rip.  God  knows,  I  am  not  myself.  I  was  myself  last  night, 
but  I  fell  asleep  on  the  mountain.  They  changed  my 
gun  and  everything  is  changed,  and  I  am  changed,  but 
I  cannot  tell  my  name  nor  who  I  am. 

(Enter  Judith) 

Judith  -^-  Hush  Rip,  hush  you  little  fool.  The  old  man  will 
nowhurt  you. 

Rip  -^What  is  your  name  my  good  woman  ? 
Judith  —  Judith  Gardinier. 
Rip  —  And  your  father's  name? 

Judith  — Ah,  poor  man,  his  name  was  Rip  Van  Wmlde>  but 
it  is  twenty  years  since  he  went  away  with  his  dog  and 
gun,  and  never  returned.  His  dog  came  home  without 
him,  but  whether  he  shot  himself  or  whether  the  Indians 
carried  him  off  we  do  not  know.  I  was  but  a  little  girl 
then. 

Rip  —  Where's  your  mother  ? 

Judith  —  Oh,  she  too  has  died  a  short  time  since.  She  broke 
a  blood  vessel  in  a  fit  of  passion  against  a  New  England 
peddler. 

Rip  —  I  am  your  father,  young  Rip  Van  Winkle  once,  now  old 
Van  Winkle  (all  stand  amazed) 

Old  Woman  —  (coming  from  the  crowd)  Sure  enough  it  is 
Rip  Van  Winkle.  Welcome  home  again  old  neighbor. 
Why,  where  have  you  been  these  twenty  long  years? 

Rip  —  The  day  I  went  away  on  the  mountain,  I  heard  a  voice 
calling  me.  I  looked  around  and  suddenly  I  saw  a  man 
carrying  a  keg.  He  motioned  for  me  to  come  and  help 
him.  So  I  did.  We.  carried  the  keg  into  the  mountains 
where  we  saw  little  men  playing  ten  pins.  They  motioned 
for  me  to  pour  out  some  ale,  so  I  obeyed  and  when  they 


UTILIZING  A   COMMON   INTEREST  163 

were  not  looking,  I  took  some,  and  liking  it  very  much 
I  took  some  more  until  I  fell  asleep,  and  when  I  awoke 
everything  was  changed. 

Judith  —  Well,  father  come  home  and  live  with  me. 

Rip  —  But  Dame  Van  Winkle.     Oh  to  be  sure. 
Rip  and  Judith  exit.     Curtain.     The  End. 

Dramatizations  for  Entertainments 

The  stimulation  of  appearing  before  the  public  and 
the  poise  that  comes  from  such  work  has  been  long  recog- 
nized by  teachers.  The  use  of  the  dramatic  in  the  man- 
ner that  has  been  indicated  will  take  the  place  of**  the 
"  rhetoricals  "  that  have  been  such  a  bugbear  to  many 
children.  Those  who  are  sensitive  about  performing  be- 
fore the  public  can  gradually  work  up  to  it  without  the 
dread  that  comes  from  the  thought  of  an  individual  ap- 
pearance. Then  if  large  sections  of  the  regular  school 
work  can  be  prepared  by  the  pupils  and  teacher  for 
presentation  to  parents  on  special  days,  the  work  of  the 
entire  school  takes  on  a  dignity  that  it  would  not  pos- 
sess, had  the  teacher  gone  outside  to  choose  selections  for 
exhibitions.  Regular  work  then  is  something  that  can 
be  given  a  special  charm  for  a  special  time  as  well  as 
being  useful  for  every  day.  Parents  are  likely  to  take 
more  interest  in  the  regular  work  as  a  result.  As  a  usual 
thing  more  children  take  part  when  some  school  subject 
is  dramatized,  and  even  those  who  do  not  take  part  in 
the  presentation  can  feel  that  it  represents  their  own 
efforts,  for  they  have  helped  to  create  it. 

As  part  of  an  entertainment  given  for  another  grade 


164       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

and  for  some  of  the  mothers,  an  eighth  grade  with  the 
help  of  their  teacher  conceived  the  idea  of  presenting 
in  a  dramatization  some  of  the  work  they  had  been  doing 
in  hygiene.  Most  of  the  different  activities  of  this  sub- 
ject such  as  first  aid,  cleanliness,  and  correct  living  habits 
lend  themselves  very  nicely  to  dramatization.  The 
teacher  formulated  the  general  idea  for  them  and  let  them 
work  around  it. 

The  ideas  of  an  adult  mind,  gained  by  the  children  in 
their  class  work  or  given  directly  by  the  teacher,  are 
evident  in  the  play  that  follows.  Many  little  features 
which  the  teacher  might  have  left  out  but  which  appealed 
to  the  children  are  just  as  evident.  One  special  factor 
that  the  teacher  must  guard  against  is  the  desire  of  the 
children  for  too  much  of  the  ridiculous.  Note,  for 
example,  the  names  of  the  characters  in  this  play. 
More  or  less  of  this  may  be  allowed,  but  the  children 
should  be  led  to  see  that  it  has  its  limit,  and  that  the 
funny  section  will  be  more  powerful  if  it  follows  some- 
thing that  is  quite  serious  and  instructive.  Quite  a  study 
upon  this  very  point  was  carried  on  by  an  eighth-grade 
class  in  the  construction  of  one  of  their  plays.  One  of 
the  boys  went  so  far  as  to  collect  examples  from  master 
plays.  Such  wide  interests,  which  are  probably  the  real 
aim  of  instruction  in  classes,  are  continually  developing 
when  we  appeal  to  the  child's  instincts  and  individuality. 

In  this  play  the  children  worked  with  great  enthu- 
siasm to  learn  all  the  first  aid  measures  so  that  they  might 
do  them  very  quickly  without  tiring  the  audience.  They 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  165 

planned  and  furnished  their  own  costumes.  The  boys 
who  were  to  appear  as  deacons  wore  long  coats  and  small 
mustaches.  The  girls  made  an  appearance  that  was  quite 
representative  of  an  old-fashioned  ladies'  aid  society. 
The  making  of  the  entire  play  together  with  the  practice 
that  was  necessary  for  giving  it  took  up  a  thirty-minute 
period  daily  for  two  weeks  at  the  end  of  the  term.  It 
made  a  splendid  review  of  some  of  the  essential  features 
of  the  work  together  with  a  good  exposition  of  the  cen- 
tral idea  of  their  course,  that  they  must  act,  not  talk, 
about  cleanliness.  Plays  like  this  one  can  be  made  and 
given  by  children  anywhere.  They  make  splendid 
entertainments . 

A  HYGIENE  PLAY.     "  Be  Clean  and  Keep  Cool." 

Act  1,  Scene  1. 
Characters. 

Lizzie  B.  Dorothy  B.  l 

Hyacinth  N.          Alphonse  T. 
Susan  S.  Gaston  D. 

Maudell  C.  Sallie  W. 

Lena  S.     Susan's  daughter. 

A  ladies  aid  society  is  meeting  at  the  house  of  Lizzie  B. 
The  ladies  are  occupied  with  sewing. 

Hyacinth  (looking  out  of  the  window)  —  If  here  don't  come 
Deacon  Alphonse  and  Deacon  Gaston. 

Sallie  —  Prepare  yourselves,  ladies,  for  an  inspection  of  your 
teeth. 

1  These  names  are  examples  of  eighth-grade  humor.  They  do  not  ap- 
p3al  to  the  adult  mind,  and  it  might  have  been  better  for  the  teacher  to 
require  more  ordinary  names. 


166      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Susan  —  We  never  have  an  aid  meeting  without  old  Alphonse 

bothering  us  about  our  teeth  or  Gaston  talking  [about 

germs  and,  dear  me,  this  time  we  have  both  of  them. 

Enter  Alphonse  and  Gaston. 

Alphonse  —  As  I  was  saying,  Gaston,  you  can't  get  the  germs 
until  you  get  them  out  of  the  mouth. 

Sallie  —  Well,  Alphonse,  what  is  the  latest  in  tooth  powder? 

Maudell  —  How  many  members  have  you  for  your  Mouth 
Hygiene  Society? 

Alphonse  —  Ninety-five  and  you  five  will  make  it  one  hundred. 
But  I  will  not  stop  until  I  make  it  a  thousand. 

Lizzie  —  I  would  like  to  know  who  said  we  were  going  to  join. 

Hyacinth  —  I  would  like  to  join,  but  tell  us  what  this  society 
means,  Alphonse,  and  what  good  will  such  a  society  do  ? 

Alphonse  —  I  will  be  glad  to  explain. 

(While  Alphonse  is  explaining  Gaston  examines  the  place 
for  germs  with  a  large  microscope,  taking  from  his  pocket 
a  box  of  disinfectant  powder,  which  he  sprinkles  in  various 
corners.)  The  mouth  hygiene  society  was  first  formed 
in  Cleveland.  Its  main  purpose  is  to  get  the  public 
to  ward  off  disease  by  cleaning  and  caring  for  their  teeth. 
Do  you  know  that  nine  tenths  of  all  the  people  do  not 
care  for  their  teeth  as  they  should?  Also  it  is  true  that 
a  room  full  of  people,  who  have  dirty  teeth  is  a  fearful 
source  of  contamination.  There  are  about  thirty-two 
square  inches  of  surface  in  every  mouth.  Think  of  fifty 
persons  in  a  room.  Thirty-two  times  fifty  makes  1600 
square  inches  or  over  eleven  square  feet.  Suppose  we 
had  a  surface  of  over  eleven  square  feet  through  which 
the  air  we  breathe  would  have  to  pass  every  minute,  and 
would  you  like  to  have  that  surface  clean  or  would  you 
want  it  covered  with  slime,  dirt  and  germs?  But  the 
air  we  breath  in  a  crowded  room  is  passing  in  and  out  of 
the  mouths  of  everyone  there  continually.  Moreover,  if 
we  want  a  race  of  strong,  healthy  people,  they  must  have 
good  teeth  from  childhood  to  old  age.  The  first  set  is 
just  as  important  as  the  second. 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON    INTEREST  167 

Susan  —  Well,  well,  Alphonse,  this  seems  to  be  a  splendid 
idea,  and  I  am  sure  all  of  us  would  like  to  join.  Now 
if  we  could  only  get  old  Mrs.  H.  to  join.  She  is  always 
too  untidy  and  I  don't  believe  a  toothbrush  has  ever 
seen  the  inside  of  her  house. 

Alphonse  —  Mrs.  B.  will  you  please  pass  the  water. 

(Lizzie  brings  out  a  pitcher  of  water  with  one  glass  and 
when  his  turn  comes  Gaston  refuses) 

Gaston  —  I  refuse  to  drink  from  this  glass  on  account  of  germs. 

Lizzie  —  What?  Germs?  I  see  no  germs.  This  is  clean 
water  and  the  glass  has  been  carefully  washed  since  dinner. 
(Gaston  takes  out  magnifying  glass  and  holds  it  over 
the  top  of  the  glass  of  water  shaking  his  head.  He  sum- 
mons Mrs.  B.  to  come  and  look) 

Lizzie  —  What  are  those  millions  of  little  specks  ? 

Gaston  —  Just  as  I  have  told  you,  you  are  looking  at  germs. 
Do  you  know  that  there  is  a  law  against  the  common 
drinking  cup?  Would  you  drink  from  a  cup  that  other 
people  and  strangers  have  used?  Any  amount  of  the 
germs  on  this  cup  may  be  disease  germs.  The  germs 
you  saw  undoubtedly  came  from  the  mouths  of  the  per- 
sons who  just  used  this  glass. 

All  —  Germs  ?     Do  we  have  germs  ? 

(Maudell  has  a  coughing  fit) 

Gaston  —  More  germs.  Mrs.  C.  should  have  put  her  hand- 
kerchief to  her  mouth  to  keep  us  from  catching  her  cold. 

Hyacinth  —  Wet  feet,  drafts,  exposure,  and  such  things  cause 
colds.  You  don't  mean  to  tell  us  that  there  is  a  cold 
germ? 

Gaston  —  These  things,  you  mention,  never  cause  colds  in  them- 
selves. If  your  system  is  in  good  order  and  you  do  not 
get  the  germs  from  another's  cold  you  will  not  take  cold. 
Drafts  are  good  for  the  healthy  outdoor  man  or  woman. 

(Gaston  and  Alphonse  start  to  leave.) 

Gaston  — Good  afternoon,  Ladies,  I  hope  you  will  keep  clean 

and  avoid  germs. 
(Ladies  draw  chairs  up  close  together  and  start   gossiping) 


168      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Sallie  —  If  old  Mrs.  H.  nould  have  only  been  present :  she 
needs  such  advice  so  much. 

All  —  That  is  just  what  I  think. 

Susan  —  You  know,  she  sweeps  with  a  dry  broom  and  never 
dusts  anything  besides  the  tops  of  her  chairs  and  table. 
You  could  write  your  name  in  the  dust  on  her  table  legs. 

Lizzie  —  And,  Law,  do  think  how  she  sends  those  kids  to 
school ;  hair  uncombed,  faces  dirty  and  clothing  never 
brushed. 

Maudell  —  I  wouldn't  allow  my  children  to  associate  with 
them. 

Sallie  —  And  that  is  not  all,  the  other  day  her  little  girl  came 
over  to  my  house  and  she  was  a  sight  to  be  seen.  Her 
finger  nails  were  long  and  had  never  been  cared  for.  They 
were  even  green  under  the  ends,  and  what  is  more  I  saw 
her  putting  them  into  her  mouth  and  biting  them  off. 

Hyacinth  —  That  boy's  hair  looks  like  a  Russian  thistle  and 
he  pulled  out  a  handkerchief  that  hadn't  been  washed 
since  last  Winter. 

Susan  —  My  children  certainly  never  get  into  a  state  like  that. 

(Enter  Lena  S.,  Susan's  daughter,  with  Dorothy  H.,  the 
daughter  of  the  woman  of  whom  they  have  been  talking. 
Lena  is  very  dirty  and  untidy  but  Dorothy  is  exception- 
ally clean  in  a  white  dress) 

Lena  —  Say,  Ma,  Dorothy  came  over  and,  Ma,  may  we  make 
candy,  and  Ma,  we  couldn't  find  a  clean  dish  so  may  we 
wash  the  dinner  and  breakfast  dishes  ? 

Lizzie  —  Why,  Dorothy  H.,  how  did  you  get  so  clean? 

Susan  —  Why  Lena,  what  made  you  come  over  here  looking 
like  that? 

Lena  —  That's  the  way  I  usually  go,  Ma.     You  know  it  is, 
Ma,  and  I  just  wanted  to  ask  a  question. 
(Susan  puts  hands  over  face) 

Dorothy  —  I've  been  keeping  clean  for  an  entire  month.  The 
last  teacher  in  our  district  taught  me  how.  I  went  to 


UTILIZING  A   COMMON   INTEREST  169 

school  for  six  years  and  made  the  highest  grades  in  my 
class  in  hygiene,  and  you  know,  I  always  thought  that 
hygiene  was  .only  to  study  so  that  we  could  make  grades 
and  pass.  The  last  teacher  Miss  Useful,  taught  me  that 
a  grade  didn't  count  much,  but  that  I  gained  knowledge 
in  order  to  use  it.  I  told  Ma,  and  Ma  said  that  the  teacher 
was  crazy,  but  the  more  we  thought  about  it,  the  more  we 
thought  she  was  right,  and  so  we  started  in  to  use  our 
knowledge.  You  should  see  the  difference  in  our  house. 
And  we  get  books  that  tell  us  how  to  clean  up.  It  is  such 
fun  to  be  really  doing  things. 

Maudell  —  Well,  Dorothy,  you  certainly  show  it.  What 
do  you  do  in  the  house? 

Dorothy  —  Sam  and  I  clean  our  teeth  just  before  bed  time 
every  night.  We  both  help  Ma  with  the  house  work. 
Before  school  in  the  morning  we  wash  dishes,  sweep,  and 
make  the  beds.  It  takes  such  a  short  time  after  you  get 
at  it.  And  then,  I  feel  so  much  better  in  school  after 
helping  Ma  at  home. 

Lizzie  —  Why  didn't  your  Ma  come  to  aid  society  Dorothy  ? 

Dorothy  —  Ma  said  that  she  had  often  spent  her  time  going 
out  and  talking  when  her  work  at  home  was  not  done  up, 
and  said  she  hadn't  any  time  to  lose  today  and  didn't 
feel  that  she  could  afford  to  say  anything  about  other 
people  being  dirty  when  she  wasn't  clean  at  home. 

Sallie  —  Well,  Dorothy,  I  am  certainly  glad  your  mother 
has  reformed,  and  Ladies  I  am  going  straight  home  and 
clean  up  my  house. 

All  —  That's  just  what  I  am  going  to  do. 
(All  go  and  leave  Lizzie  at  home  alone) 

Lizzie  —  Well,  dear  me,  I  guess  they  are  right.  It  is  so  easy 
to  talk  but  so  hard  to  do. 

(She  moves  a  rug  under  which  a  large  amount  of  floor 
sweepings  have  been  hidden,  and  begins  to  clean  them  up) 
Curtain. 


170      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Act  2,  Scene  1. 

Characters. 

Doctor  Thompson  Lizzie  B. 

Mrs.  C.  Susan  S. 

Sallie  W.  Mrs.  Dr.  T. 

Mrs.  A.  Mrs.  E. 

Mrs  .  P.  Mrs.  H. 

Dr.  Thompson  is  giving  lessons  in  first  aid  to  the  injurec 
to  the  members  of  the  Ladies  Aid  Society.  The  ladies  very 
rapidly  and  accurately  perform  his  directions,  one  standing  in 
front  of  the  other  and  exchanging  places. 

Dr.  T.  —  Now  the  square  knot,  the  head  bandage,  the  sling 
the  arm  bandage,  the  hand  bandage,  the  eye  bandage,  th( 
ear  bandage. 

As  the  ladies  do  the  work  one  of  them  explains  each  band 
age.  They  have  practiced  these  until  they  can  do  them 
very  rapidly  and  the  audience  does  not  get  time  to  become 
tired. 

Dr.  T.  —  Now,  Ladies,  you  have  remembered  your  lessons  on 
bandages  very  well.  Let  us  see  what  you  remember  o 
your  lessons  on  poisons.  If  you  were  to  take  strychnim 
by  mistake,  Mrs.  B.,  what  would  you  do? 

Mrs.  B.  —  I  would  first  take  warm  water  and  mustard,  then 
strong  tea,  but  I  might  be  so  overcome  that  I  could  no 
do  anything. 

Dr.  T.  —  What  would  you  do  to  help  her,  Mrs.  Q.  ? 

Mrs.  Q.  —  I  would  do  as  she  has  suggested  and  then  try  arti 
ficial  respiration. 

Dr.  T.  —  But  first  of  all,  Mrs.  Q.  you  should  keep  cool.  Sup 
pose,  for  example,  that  some  person,  who  had  been  poi 
soned,  would  rush  in  here,  and  I,  a  doctor,  couldn't  keep 
cool.  What  would  happen  to  such  a  person?  The  firs 
thing  to  remember  is  to  think  carefully  before  you  act 
Suppose,  Mrs.  P.  that  there  was  no  mustard  on  hand. 

Mrs.  P.  —  I  would  make  her  drink  all  the  warm  water  I  could 
get  her  to  take. 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  171 

Dr.  T.  —  But  above  all,  Mrs.  P.,  keep  cool. 

(At  this  juncture,  Dr.  Thompson  turns  to  the  audience 
and  asks  them  to  name  any  poison,  and  he  points  out  a 
lady  to  give  the  antidote.  Antidotes  are  either  against 
acids  or  alkalis  and  are  thus  easily  learned.  Then  as 
Dr.  Thompson  is  looking  into  his  grip,  Mrs.  A.  rushes  in 
poisoned) 

Mrs.  A.  — Help,  help,  help.     I  took  a  tablespoon  of  carbolic 
acid.     I  thought  it  was  spirits  of  Nitre. 
(Dr.  T.  jumps,  pushes  over  table  full  of  bottles,  and  with 
his  hands  in  his  hair  shouts.) 

Dr.  T.  —  What  shall  I  do?    What  shall  I  do? 
Mrs.  A.  —  Help,  help,  I  am  burning  up. 

Mrs.  H.  —  Being  as  Dr.  Thompson  doesn't  "keep  cool,"  I 
guess  I  will  have  to  use  the  knowledge  he  has  taught  me. 
Now,  Mrs.  E.  get  me  some  lime,  quick. 

(Mrs.  E.  jumps  up  and  down) 

Mrs.  E.  —  Where  shall  I  get  it? 

Mrs.  H.  —  Knock  a  piece  of  plaster  off  the  wall. 

(Mrs.  E.  obeys  and  dissolves  plaster  in  water) 

Mrs.  H.  —  Now,  Mrs.  A.,  drink  this  quickly.     (She  drinks) 

Mrs.    A.  (After   they   have   watched   her   breathlessly   for   a 
few   minutes)    My,    such   a   relief.     Tell   Dr.    Thompson 
that  I  am  ever  so  much  obliged  for  his  timely  aid. 
(Enter  Dr.  T.  looking  somewhat  abashed  and  trying  to 
appear  amused) 

Dr.  T.  —  I  am  sorry,  ladies,  that  such  an  occasion  arose,  but 
I  thought  it  best  to  leave  the  room  and  let  you  ladies  show 
your  skill. 

Mrs.  Ether  —  Did  you  hear  about  the  big  fire  last  night? 
Mrs.  Peroxide  —  Yes,  but  how  did  it  start? 

Mrs.  Ether  — Why  didn't  you  know? 

(Enter  Mrs.  Thompson,  screaming,  and  with  clothing  on 
fire) 

Mrs.  T.  —  Help,  help,  I  am  all  on  fire.  (Everybody  loses 
presence  of  mind) 


172       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

(Grocery  boy  enters  with  a  box  of  groceries.  He  drops  his 
box,  grabs  a  rug  and  rolls  Mrs.  Thompson  on  the  floor 
in  the  rug,  smothering  the  imaginary  flames.) 

Mrs.  B.  —  to  Grocery  boy  —  How  did  you  ever  think  of  that? 

Grocer  Boy  —  I  learned  that  many  years  ago  at  the  State 
Teachers  College. 

Dr.  T.  —  Very  well  done,  bring  on  my  carron  oil  and  bandages. 
He  dresses  wounds  on  arm. 

Dr.  T.  —  Ladies,  you  have  done  very  well  today  and  so  that 
your  children  may  also  profit  send  them  to  the  State 
Teachers  College. 

Summary  of  Uses  and  Misuses 

Dramatic  material  may  be  used  in  the  lower  grades 
without  much  organization  or  drill.     If  the  children  who 
read  "  The  Circus  Primer/'  for  example/  play  the    dif- 
ferent animal  parts  now  and  then,  interest  is  bound  to 
be  added,  and  they  more  than  make  up  the  time  by  the 
greater  zest  they  put   into   the  regular  reading  lesson 
Indian   and   Esquimau  life,   stories  they   are   told,    anc 
holiday  happenings  all  furnish  splendid  dramatic  materia 
and  are  brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  children  in  this 
way  better  than  by  any  other  method. 

In  the  upper  grades  longer  plays  with  more  carefu 
organization  furnish  incentive  for  wide  reading  in  regular 
subjects,  and  provide  splendid  practice  in  written  and  ora 
English. 

However,  this  is  only  one  of  the  many  race  and  indi- 
vidual interests  which  every  child  inherits  and  may  be 
given  too  much  time  and  attention.  One  or  two  plays 
like  those  given  for  illustration  are  enough  for  a  term 


UTILIZING   A   COMMON   INTEREST  173 

There  is  little  danger  of  doing  too  much  dramatizing 
in  the  lower  grades.  Close  attention  and  careful  organ- 
ization by  the  teacher  are  necessary  at  all  times.  The 
actual  good  that  will  result  from  a  study  of  the  work  to 
be  dramatized  and  the  practice  in  written  and  oral  Eng- 
lish will  depend  upon  the  ability  of  the  teacher  to  direct 
and  inspire  the  class  to  do  hard  work.  The  result  with- 
out such  direction  may  be  a  type  of  work  that  it  would 
have  been  better  never  to  have  attempted.  The  dra- 
matic is  to  be  used  as  an  incentive  for,  not  as  a  diversion 
from,  school  work. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    A    NATURAL    INTEREST 

Nature's  Provisions.  The  child  is  naturally  provided 
with  many  interests.  They  play  a  large  part  in  his  edu- 
cation. In  the  measure  that  the  school  recognizes  and 
supervises  the  development  of  these  interests,  the  more 
valuable  they  become.  Allowed  to  grow  up  in  their 
wild  and  natural  state,  interests  often  deteriorate  and  are 
lost,  or  develop  in  directions  that  are  not  profitable. 

Some  natural  interests  are  : 

1.  The  love  of  nature.     Such  an  interest  makes  an 
admirable  avocation  in  almost   any   calling.     The  man 
or  the  woman  who  has  properly   developed   it  will  be 
happier  and  more  efficient.     The  school  should  do  every- 
thing in  its  power  to  foster  it. 

2.  Toys.     Every  child  has  and  is  interested  in  toys. 
Proper  choice  of  toys  by  parents  and  education  through 
toys   would   easily   supply   the   material   for   a   volume. 
A  child  may  be  helped  in  his  education  by  the  provision 
of  proper  toys.     The  school  can  often  play  a  large  part 
in  stimulating  this  interest  by  the  recognition  of  work 
done  with  toys,  by  influencing  parents  to  provide  proper 
toys,  etc. 

174 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   A  NATURAL   INTEREST      175 

3.  'Constructions.  To  make  things  is  often  a  delight. 
Many  men  receive  great  enjoyment  from  the  construction 
interest  all  through  life.  I  know  one  man  who  builds  a 
boat  every  spring.  When  the  winter  gives  place  to 
warmer  weather,  he  says  that  the  smell  of  tar  and  paint 
gets  into  his  nostrils.  For  his  exercise  during  the  spring 
months  he  builds  a  boat.  He  can  usually  sell  it  for 
more  than  the  materials  cost  him.  Thus  his  interest  in 
constructing  furnishes  an  inexpensive  avocation  and 
splendid  exercise  of  the  non- violent  sort.  Manual  train- 
ing should  have  as  one  of  its  chief  functions  the  de- 
velopment and  preservation  of  this  interest. 

The  Collection  Interest 

Many  other  interests  could  be  named.  The  teacher 
need  but  study  his  classes  to  discover  them.  To  illus- 
trate ways  of  relating  the  school  to  a  natural  interest 
the  development  of  the  collection  habit  has  been  chosen. 

The  Universality  of  Collections.  The  collection  inter- 
est is  such  a  universal  phenomenon  of  child  and  adult 
life  that  it  has  been  designated  by  many  as  an  instinct. 
It  is  considered  here  as  an  illustration  of  an  interest  which 
may  be  guided  and  developed  by  the  school.  '  The 
treasures  of  children/'  says  Burk,  "  are  cherished  by  them 
with  feelings  of  sacredness,  pride,  and  importance  which 
can  hardly  be  appreciated  by  the  adult  unless  he  be 
blessed  with  a  bit  of  foolish  sentiment  himself  or  pos- 
sessed of  a  vivid  memory  penetrating  back  into  the 
recesses  of  his  own  childish  heart."  She  records  that 


176      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 


one  boy  had  as  many  as  sixty-six  collections  before  h 
was  ten  years  old,   fifty-five  of  which  were  still  being 
continued. 

Every  normal  child  collects.  What  he  collects  would 
be  hard  to  classify.  In  the  earlier  years  the  instinct  is 
more  or  less  blind.  It  seems  to  be  the  mere  desire  to 
hoard  different  objects  that  are  attractive  to  the  col- 
lector. There  are  close  connections  with  our  ancestors 
in  these  activities.  There  was  undoubtedly  a  time  in 
the  life  of  the  race  when  hoarding  meant  survival.  This 
is  true  to  a  certain  extent  even  to-day.  But  in  the  past 
when  crops  were  not  so  sure,  when  communication  was 
not  so  good,  and  when  transportation  was  not  so  easily 
accomplished,  the  ability  to  hoard,  especially  such  things 
as  food  supplies,  must  have  been  a  valuable  asset  to 
individuals  and  races.  In  the  animal  world  it  is  seen  in 
.bees,  ants,  squirrels,  and  many  other  creatures,  an 
undoubtedly  it  is  necessary  to  survival  there. 

In  more  civilized  times  this  interest  has  changed  an 
does  not   have  such   close   relation   to   the   rest  of  th 
life  of  the  collector.     Yet  it  is  an  instinct  just  as  clearl; 
as  it  ever  was.     The  housewife  who  puts  up  fruit  in  th 
fall  usually  gets  more  pleasure  from  the  mere  realization 
of  an  instinctive  desire  to  collect  than  from  the  thought 
that  she  is  putting  away  something  for  future  use,  al- 
though the  motive  of  future  use  may  be  a  part  of  th 
collecting  interest.     But  the  woman  who  is  putting  awa; 
her  fruit  for  the  winter  gets  great  pleasure  from  th 
mere  joy  of  putting  it  away. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF  A  NATURAL   INTEREST      177 

This  is  the  test  of  the  instinct.  It  is  pleasant  in 
the  immediate  sense,  and  it  is  useful  in  a  more  remote 
sense  if  rightly  used.  The  financier  wants  more  money, 
not  especially  that  he  may  have  more  of  the  desires 
of  life  for  himself  or  others  that  money  can  buy,  but 
for  money  itself,  as  much  as  he  can  get  of  it.  Land, 
houses,  ships  are  all  a  part  of  his  desire  to  achieve, 
and  achievement  in  such  cases  is  little  more  than  a 
perversion  of  the  hoarding  and  collecting  interest.  It 
is  one  of  the  deepest  and  biggest  interests  in  life,  and 
it  has  not  been  given  its  proper  place  in  the  schools. 
One  might  say  of  collections  what  has  been  said  of  many 
other  things,  "  Let  me  see  the  collections  of  a  boy  or  man, 
and  I  will  tell  you  what  sort  of  person  he  is." 

The  Significance  of  Spontaneous  Collections 

Most  great  men  have  been  great  collectors.  In  visit- 
ing recently  a  university  president  it  was  noted  that  one 
of  the  chief  interests  in  the  life  of  this  man  seemed  to  be 
his  collections.  He  had  begun  collecting  as  a  boy,  and 
his  home,  his  rooms  at  the  university,  in  fact  every  corner 
of  any  of  the  places  he  frequented  was  occupied  by  some 
sort  of  collection.  He  had  hundreds  of  them,  from  ref- 
erence catalogues  to  collections  of  butcher  knives.  An- 
other man,  the  president  of  a  normal  school,  says  that 
his  entire  life  has  been  devoted  to  collecting.  The  chief 
thing  in  his  school  is  the  large  space  given  to  museums. 

But  one  need  only  turn  to  the  biographies  of  great  natu- 
ralists to  see  what  an  important  part  this  interest  played 


178      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

in  their  lives ;  and  for  another  side  of  it  one  need  only 
look  into  the  lives  of  the  great  financiers  to  find  that  they 
began  to  save  very  early  in  life.  In  the  one  case  the  col- 
lecting interest  took  a  scientific  turn ;  in  the  other  a  turn 
toward  more  worldly  possessions.  It  has  been  said  of 
one  of  the  great  American  naturalists  that  he  had  such 
a  passion  for  collecting  that  he  could  not  be  trusted  in 
a  museum ;  for  he  would  be  sure  to  steal  any  strange 
specimen  which  he  might  need  to  further  his  own  col- 
lections. Naturalists  who  had  especially  wonderful  col- 
lections were  Agassiz,  Baird,  Burroughs,  Wilson,  and 
Thoreau. 

The  hoarding  of  the  miser  seems  to  be  a  perversion  of 
the  collecting  interest.  There  is  usually  something  lack- 
ing in  the  life  of  the  miser.  One  who  has  friends  and 
family  and  a  healthy  supply  of  other  interests  is  not 
likely  to  develop  such  a  trait.  George  Eliot  in  "  Silas 
Marner "  gives  us  a  good  picture  of  a  case  of  this 
kind ;  she  also  shows  how  a  little  girl  came  in  and  sup- 
plied the  necessary  stimulation  for  better  traits  in  the 
same  nature. 

Some  Educational  Values  of  Collections 

Persistence  in  Orderliness.  One  of  the  hardest  habits 
to  form  in  children  is  order.  Continued  watchfulness  on 
the  part  of  parents  or  teachers  is  almost  impossible. 
Another  and  better  method  of  bringing  about  orderliness 
is  to  allow  the  child  to  have  possessions  of  his  own  and 
encourage  him  to  keep  them  in  order  and  to  classify  and 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF  A   NATURAL   INTEREST      179 

arrange  them.  Collections  serve  this  purpose  admi- 
rably. The  boy  or  the  girl  who  keeps  a  collection  through 
a  number  of  years  and  keeps  it  in  order  will  have  gained 
something  from  it  in  the  way  of  orderliness  that  will 
never  be  entirely  lost.  The  collecting  interest  is  valuable 
for  this  reason  if  for  no  other.  Anyone  who  has  tried  to 
keep  collections  for  a  considerable  time  will  readily  ap- 
preciate this.  Such  a  person  knows  how  difficult  the 
task  is  and  the  value  to  the  child  of  a  collection  kept 
throughout  a  number  of  years. 

The  average  college  student  is  unable  to  keep  a  card 
catalogue  of  the  references  which  he  wishes  to  preserve. 
It  is  so  hard  to  keep  and  care  for,  and  interest  is  so  tran- 
sitory, that  such  a  catalogue  is  usually  allowed  to  scat- 
ter or  is  soon  entirely  forgotten.  Those  who  have  been 
collectors  in  childhood  have  little  trouble  in  keeping 
these  catalogues.  The  increase  in  a  student's  efficiency 
from  such  practice  could  not  be  measured,  but  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  if  a  graduate  of  a  normal  school  or 
college  had  conscientiously  carded  and  filed  away  all  the 
valuable  suggestions  and  references  he  might  have  re- 
corded during  a  college  course,  his  efficiency  as  a  teacher 
would  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  Librarians  continually 
complain  that  their  greatest  bother  comers  from  letters 
from  students  who  have  gone  out  to  work,  but  who  have 
forgotten  even  the  names  of  the  textbooks  they  used 
while  in  school.  The  point  of  interest  here  is  that  the 
practice  and  ability  gained  from  keeping  collections  in 
childhood  increases  the  ability  of  the  adult. 


180      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Moral  Value.  Another  advantage  of  having  and 
keeping  a  good  collection  is  the  self-respect  that  comes 
to  a  child  from  doing  anything  well.  The  collection  is 
also  a  measurable  thing  in  Boyville.  The  respect  that 
accrues  to  a  boy  who  has  a  fine  collection  of  stamps, 
tags,  birds'  eggs,  bird  nests,  butterflies,  etc.,  is  a  very 
good  reward  for  his  work.  Such  a  reward  is  the  real  life 
prize  for  which  all  of  us  work:  the  acknowledgment  of 
good  work  by  those  who  understand  us  and  the  tasks  we 
are  trying  to  do.  The  moral  value  alone  of  keeping  a 
collection  is  enough  to  make  it  worth  fostering. 

A  Center  for  Life  Interests.  Even  more  important  than 
the  two  values  just  mentioned  are  the  life  interests  re- 
sulting from  collecting.  Most  collections  are  those  con- 
nected with  nature  study.  Thus  the  child  who  keeps  a 
collection  of  bugs,  bird  nests,  or  stones,  things  which 
arouse  interest  in  the  great  world  outside,  usually  keeps 
his  interest  in  nature  all  the  rest  of  his  life.  An  investi- 
gation of  adults  who  have  kept  collections  reveals  that 
a  collection  of  some  sort  once  having  been  made,  the 
interest  goes  far  into  life.  A  man  who  collected  stones 
when  he  was  a  child  says  that  stones  have  been  interest- 
ing to  him  ever  since.  When  he  goes  walking,  and  often 
he  would  not  go  if  it  were  not  for  this  interest,  he  likes 
to  pick  up  peculiar  stones,  and  he  thinks  of  his  old  col- 
lection although  he  has  long  since  ceased  to  keep  it  up. 
Another  says  the  same  of  birds  and  bird  nests.  And  so 
it  continues.  This  survival  of  the  collecting  interest  is 
illustrated  in  the  autobiography  of  Herbert  Spencer, 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF  A  NATURAL   INTEREST      181 

If  collections  touch  life  in  such  a  manner,  it  will  be  well  to 
cultivate  them  and  direct  this  energy  into  fields  that  are 
likely  to  be  especially  valuable. 

Special   Collections 

Scientific  Collections.  From  making  scientific  col- 
lections of  stones,  bugs,  butterflies,  or  flowers,  a  boy 
may  develop  a  scientific  turn  of  mind  which  will  be  very 
valuable  to  his  life  career.  His  desire  to  investigate  the 
true  nature  of  his  treasures  may  lead  him  to  study  topics 
that  are  quite  technical.  His  reading  may  take  this 
direction  and  may  mean  the  turning  point  in  his  life. 
When  reading  becomes  valuable  to  the  boy  for  getting 
information  along  the  line  of  his  activities,  it  has  be- 
come something  more  and  better  than  an  interest  in  wild 
tales  from  fiction.  A  boy  who  had  a  collection  of  butter- 
flies had  read  at  the  age  of  eleven  more  books  in  this  field 
of  science  than  the  ordinary  college  graduate  who  may 
have  taken  half  a  dozen  required  courses  in  biology  in 
his  work  for  a  degree.  He  says  of  his  reading : 

"  Most  books  don't  give  you  what  you  really  want, 
but  I  have  read  a  few,  maybe  a  couple  of  dozen  in  the 
last  three  years,  since  I  began  my  collection.  Among 
them  are  '  Ways  of  the  Six-Footed/  '  Insect  Life/  and 
'  Butterflies  West  of  the  Rockies.'  Comstock  also  has  a 
fair  book,  and  I  read  an  interesting  book  on  '  English 
Butterflies  '  not  long  ago.  I  have  studied  Holland's  big 
books  continually,  that  is,  Holland's  '  Moths  '  and  Hol- 
land's '  Butterflies.'  " 


182      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

One  need  have  no  fear  about  the  reading  interest  of 
this  boy. 

The  collection  may  serve  as  a  motive  for  much  of  the 
boy's  school  work.  His  story  telling  may  be  based  upon 
rambles  and  experiences  with  his  collections,  and  this 
may  give  occasion  for  an  endless  amount  of  constructive 
criticism  of  his  English.  He  may  acquire  the  ability  to 
speak  correctly  and  to  describe  accurately  from  telling 
of  such  experiences.  He  may  write  compositions  about 
his  collections.  Often  he  brings  more  valuable  infor- 
mation to  the  class  in  these  compositions  than  the  teacher 
is  able  to  give.  For  example,  when  a  class  wanted  some 
real  information  about  how  to  make  a  collection  of  moths 
and  butterflies,  the  composition  below  was  written  by  a 
boy  in  the  seventh  grade  and  read  to  the  classes.  The 
result  was  a  great  burst  of  interest  by  a  large  number 
of  children,  and  a  knowledge  of  moths  and  butterflies 
soon  became  common  property  of  these  grade  children. 
The  values  of  moths  and  butterflies,  which  ones  were 
destructive,  with  actual  examples  of  each  one,  their 
methods  of  propagation,  and  their  life  habits  made  a 
foundation  for  home  and  school  work  for  some  time. 

A  BOY'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  His  COLLECTION 

BUTTERFLIES  l 

The  first  thing  to  get  to  start  an  insect  collection  is  a  cyanide 
of  potassium  bottle,  a  net,  one  or  more  cases.  I  recommend 

1  The  punctuation  and  spelling,  as  well  as  the  entire  composition,  are 
duplicated  from  the  work  of  a  seventh-grade  boy. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF  A   NATURAL   INTEREST      183 

Riker  mounts  8  by  12  inches.  Moth  balls  should  be  put  in- 
side the  cases  to  keep  the  moths  out.  Pins  and  mounting 
blocks  (all  sizes)  are  necessary.  Mounting  blocks  are  just 
blocks  with  grooves  through  the  middle  for  the  body  of  the 
moth  or  butterfly.  All  these  things  can  be  obtained  from  the 
Kny  Scheer  Co.  N.  Y. 

When  you  see  the  moth  or  butterfly  you  want,  you  must  get 
your  net  and  try  to  get  him  in  it.  After  this  is  done  squeeze 
the  thorax  so  as  to  stun  the  insect,  then  put  it  in  the  cyanide 
bottle  where  it  soon  dies.  This  jar  or  bottle  is  made  by  putting 
ten  cents  worth  of  cyanide  in  the  bottom  of  the  jar,  then  put 
some  plaster  paris  over  it  and  punch  holes  in  the  plaster  paris 
so  that  the  fumes  may  come  through.  After  the  insect  is 
dead  take  him  out  and  put  him  on  the  mounting  block.  Stretch 
him  out  so  as  to  make  him  appear  as  lifelike  as  possible.  Wrap 
thin  thread  around  the  block  and  over  the  wings  lengthwise 
of  the  body.  Wrap  until  close  to  the  body  and  then  tie  the 
string.  Leave  for  three  or  more  days.  Then  put  in  the  case 
by  removing  the  glass  lid  and  inserting  the  insect  on  the  cotton 
just  as  you  want  him  to  appear.  Put  moth  balls  just  under 
the  corners.  Three  of  a  kind  make  a  good  case,  male  and 
female,  and  underside. 

The  Eastern  insects  are  generally  more  attractive  than  those 
of  Colorado.  The  moths  are  usually  prettier  than  the  butter- 
flies. They  come  in  families  as  you  will  see  from  the  names. 
There  is  the  Papilo  family,  the  Agrynnis  family,  and  many 
others.  The  names  of  the  ones  I  have  are  as  follows : 

Butterflies : 

1.  Vanessa  Antiopa. 

2.  Limochores  taumas. 

3.  Hesperia  Xnthus. 

4.  Hesperia  Montivaga. 

5.  Satysies  alope  (leaf  wood  nymph) 


184       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

6.  Pholosora  cattillus  (west  common  black) 

7.  Chrysophanus  helloides  (America  copper) 

8.  Bassilarchia  Astynax. 

9.  Chrysophanus  —  (America  copper) 

10.  Pholisora  libya  (east  common  black) 

11.  Hyapshila  phylalus. 

12.  Erynis  metea. 

13.  Arosia  plerippus  (milk  weed) 

14.  Basilarchia  disippus. 

15.  Colias  somelas  (Sulphur) 

16.  Colias  interior. 

17.  Tertas  Mexicana. 

18.  Nathatis  iola. 

19.  Colias  Eury theme  (giant  sulphur) 

20.  Omega  Noston  Euryetice  (brimstone) 

.  .  .  .  etc.,  etc.,  continuing  to  forty  different  kinds  of  butter- 
flies and  twenty-one  different  kinds  of  moths,  with  the  state- 
ment at  the  end  that  he  had  several  kinds  that  he  could  not 
name. 

Stamp  Collections.  A  stamp  collection  formed  the 
basis  for  almost  expert  knowledge  of  geography  by  an 
eighth-grade  boy.  Without  a  doubt  he  knew  more  about 
countries  in  many  remote  parts  of  the  world  than  did 
any  of  his  teachers.  It  is  admitted  that  he  had  stamps 
from  colonies  of  which  the  writer  had  never  heard.  A 
great  deal  of  interest  and  value  was  added  by  a  few  sug- 
gestions from  the  teacher.  He  classified  his  stamps 
under  the  headings  of  mother  countiy  and  colonies.  He 
soon  came  to  know  all  the  colonies  and  islands  with  in- 
dependent local  governments  of  all  the  great  nations. 
He  would  constantly  look  these  up  on  maps,  and  when- 


THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF   A   NATURAL  INTEREST      185 

ever  he  found  a  stamp  from  a  country  or  colony  that  he 
did  not  know  of,  he  would  immediately  find  it  on  the 
map,  noting  whether  it  was  a  dependency,  and,  if  so,  to 
what  country  it  belonged.  He  made  special  studies  of 
the  countries  from  which  has  stamps  came. 

The  knowledge  of  geography  in  such  a  case  is  not  the 
main  good  result  of  the  collection.  The  ability  to  do  re- 
search work  at  an  early  age  and  the  habit  of  independent 
investigation  when  the  teacher  or  taskmaster  is  not  over 
him  emancipates  such  a  boy.  If  no  accident  occurs,  his 
future  is  assured.  The  boy  who  had  this  stamp  collec- 
tion had  been  quite  a  cigarette  smoker  before  his  interest 
developed  in  his  project.  He  quite  forgot  his  smoking 
in  his  eagerness  for  all  kinds  of  work  after  this,  and  he 
was  advanced  a  grade  in  school  because  he  had  clearly 
demonstrated  his  ability  to  do  high  school  work.  In 
high  school  his  work  was  of  the  highest  grade.  This 
boy's  work  was  the  result  of  contact  with  a  teacher  who 
fostered  his  life  interests  and  took  interest  in  him  as  a 
boy. 

Collections  to  Be  Made  by  Teacher  and  Children 
for  the  School.  Children  who  become  interested  in  such 
collections  as  private  enterprises  should  be  encouraged. 


Geography 
Post  cards. 
Pictures. 

Museums  of  products. 
Railroad  folders  containing  maps  and  descriptions. 


186      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Steamship  folders. 

Special  literature  advertising  farm  crops,  business  oppor- 
tunities, and  resorts. 
Coins. 

The  school  which  has  a  few  of  these  collections  will 
not  only  have  a  large  and  growing  body  of  material  that 
will  furnish  a  center  for  its  geography  work,  but  an  in- 
terest in  objects  of  the  nature  collected  will  go  with  the 
children  into  life.  They  are  likely  to  bring  rare  gifts 
to  the  school.  These  collections  and  museums  should 
be  made  a  regular  source  of  information  concerning 
every  new  country  or  industry  studied,  and  the  more 
that  is  made  of  individual  interest  and  donations  the 
larger  the  results  will  be.  It  is  often  surprising  how  large 
and  valuable  a  collection  may  become  in  one  year. 

History  Collections 

Old  histories  and  source  books. 
Historical  documents. 
Flags. 

Historical  pictures. 

Buttons  on  which  are  pictures  of  presidents  or  other  his- 
torical characters. 
Coins. 

Nature  Study 

Butterflies  and  moths. 
Birds'  nests. 

The  collecting  of  birds'  eggs  should  be  discouraged. 
The  boy  is  not  hard  to  control  in  this  matter.  The  sub- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NATOHAL  INTEREST    187 

stitution  of  the  nest,  which  may  be  taken  after  the  birds 
have  reared  their  young  and  left,  works  quite  well.  Other 
collections  from  nature  are  : 

Stones. 

Seeds. 

Pressed  Flowers. 

Shells. 

Both  historical  and  nature  collections  are  valuable  to 
the  school  and  furnish  a  decided  help  in  the  study  of 
these  subjects.  The  description  of  the  values  to  the  in- 
dividual that  may  come  from  any  one  of  the  above  col- 
lections might  take  up  an  entire  chapter. 

Collections  to  be  Discouraged 

The  collecting  interest  is  general  in  the  sense  that  it 
does  not  attach  itself  to  any  one  type  of  article.  Objects 
in  nature  come  nearest  to  holding  first  place.  But  the 
field  of  endeavor  is  likely  to  depend  upon  environment 
and  upon  suggestions  from  other  persons.  Energy  that 
may  have  been  applied  in  wholesome  and  valuable  fields 
is  often  dissipated  in  the  collection  of  objects  that  are 
degrading. 

A  collection  of  this  type  is  tobacco  tags.  Almost 
every  man  has  collected  them  sometime  in  his  boy- 
hood. They  lead  boys  to  gutters,  to  trash  piles  and 
sweepings  from  hotels  and  pool  halls,  and  into  the  alleys 
behind  grocery  stores.  No  one  can  question  the  delight 
of  a  boy,  who,  after  going  to  the  bottom  of  a  trash 
heap,  finds  a  strange  new  tag.  But  a  study  of  his  in- 


188      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

terest  will  convince  one  that  it  is  easy  to  turn  him  towarc 
nature  or  geology  or  something  where  the  energy  which  is 
being  wasted  on  tags  can  be  used  to  advantage.  Com- 
mon as  it  may  be  there  is  no  need  of  the  tobacco  tag,  cigar 
band,  or  cigarette  picture  collection.  It  results  from 
chance  association,  nothing  more. 

It  is  foolish  to  rail  against  such  collections  or  at- 
tempt to  forbid  them.  The  only  sure  method  of  getting 
rid  of  them  is  to  substitute  something  more  valuable 
A  keen  insight  into  boy  nature  is  necessary  in  order  to  do 
this ;  children  turn  their  energies  into  many  strange 
channels.  A  number  of  useless  collections  that  are 
quite  common  are : 

Horses  counted,  white  or  black. 

Bald-headed  men  counted. 

Trade  marks. 

Envelopes. 

Knots  in  ropes. 

Labels. 

It  is  not  a  sin  to  indulge  in  such  activities  and  often 
they  furnish  a  channel  for  surplus  energy  which  it  mighl 
be  hard  otherwise  to  control.  But  the  same  energy 
should  be  used  to  positive  advantage.  It  is  often  sur 
prising  how  quickly  a  child  will  turn  to  more  worth-while 
endeavor  at  the  slightest  suggestion. 

Finally,  we  have  an  interest  which  will  function  more 
or  less,  whether  or  not  we  recognize  or  use  it.  If  the  schoo 
ignores  it,  the  result  is  likely  to  be  the  same  as  with 
anything  else  that  grows  wild  and  uncultivated. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SELECTION  AND   EMPHASIS  OF  SUBJECT 
MATTER 

ONE  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  teacher  is 
the  selection  of  subjects  and  parts  of  subjects  for  special 
emphasis.  Some  subjects  must  be  given  more  time  in 
the  day's  program  and  more  space  in  the  curriculum  than 
others.  Also  parts  of  any  given  subject  should  be  taught 
with  greater  emphasis  than  other  parts.  There  are  facts 
in  every  branch  of  learning  which  need  not  be  brought 
into  the  school  at  all,  and  every  teacher,  as  he  plans  his 
work,  should  conscientiously  ask  himself  whether  the 
material  he  is  requiring  the  children  to  spend  their  time 
and  energy  in  learning  is  worth  while. 

But  even  when  it  is  evident  that  the  subject  matter 
being  taught  is  valuable,  there  is  always  room  for  much 
thought  on  the  question  whether  the  children  might  not 
be  engaged  in  something  far  more  profitable  to  them. 
'''  For  everything  we  gain  we  lose  something  else " ; 
while  we  were  refining  the  ability  '•  to  write  by  practicing 
long  after  the  necessary  speed  and  legibility  for  com- 
plete living  has  been  reached,  we  might  have  taught  the 
children  how  to  keep  books.  In  this  case  it  is  worth 
while  to  be  able  to  write  better  than  "  very  well,"  but 

189 


190       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

not  as  essential  to  most  of  us  as  a  hundred  other  abilities 
which  might  have  been  improved  during  this  time. 

To  some  material  the  child  need  have  little  more  than 
a  good  exposure ;  while  some  should  be  mastered  as  an 
integral  part  of  his  life.  The  school  of  the  past  did  noi 
properly  differentiate  between  these  classes  of  subjed 
matter.  It  followed  the  slogan  which  we  hear  now  anc 
then  given  in  criticism  of  the  schools  to-day,  "  It  makes 
little  difference  what  you  do  just  so  you  do  it  thoroughly.' 
"  Thoroughness  "  when  blind  is  just  as  bad  as  its  op- 
posite. One  may  be  a  thorough  villain.  In  school -a 
child  may  be  forced  to  waste  most  of  his  growing  years  in 
"  thoroughly  "  covering  a  curriculum  which  unfits  him 
for  success  in  life. 

In  geography  and  history,  for  example,  "  local  color  '' 
may  be  brought  into  any  lesson  in  order  to  stimulate 
interest.  How  the  Hindu  boy  goes  fishing  and  the  kinc 
of  fish  he  catches,  and  John  Smith  explaining  the  com- 
pass to  the  Indians  are  bits  of  local  color  well  worth 
considering ;  but  they  serve  as  mere  incidents.  A  study 
of  the  life  of  Longfellow  may  serve  as  a  setting  for  the 
literary  appreciation  of  his  works  if  it  is  made  with  this 
specific  aim.  There  is  no  value  in  requiring  the  class 
to  memorize  and  be  able  to  give  in  a  test  the  dates  of  his 
birth  and  death,  or  the  times  and  places  of  the  chiej 
incidents  in  his  life.  In  hygiene  the  child  may  be  shown 
a  model  of  the  human  spine,  but  we  no  longer  require 
him  to  know  the  number  of  bones  therein.  Undoubtedly 
such  a  model  should  have  the  correct  number,  but  this  is 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  191 


an  incident.  Concrete  illustrations  might  be  given  of  a 
large  number  of  materials  ranging  in  value  from  those 
given  as  incidents  to  such  important  knowledge  as  the 
necessity  for,  and  the  proper  methods  of,  caring  for  the 
teeth,  the  acquisition  of  the  habit  of  reading  good  books, 
and  accuracy  in  the  fundamentals  of  arithmetic.  When 
we  have  covered  any  subject,  certain  definite  valuable 
parts  of  it  should  be  retained,  and  these  should  be  the 
parts  upon  which  children  are  examined.  The  remainder 
of  the  subject  need  not  be  considered  further.  The 
ability  to  select  that  which  is  vital  must  be  developed 
by  both  teachers  and  children.  Too  much  time  has 
been  wasted  on  the  unessential.  Anyone  who  will  visit 
schools  may  see  whole  recitations  and  even  months  of 
them  devoted  to  unimportant  features  of  a  subject  while 
the  vital  elements  are  being  entirely  neglected. 

Illustrations  from  Geography 

From  studying  the  work  in  geography  as  it  is  offered  in 
ten  of  our  leading  cities  and  in  several  well-known  private 
schools,  it  appears  that  the  attitude  towards  this  subject 
and  the  selection  for  emphasis  of  its  various  elements  may  be 
summed  up  as  follows  : 

Below  the  fourth  grade  geography,  history,  reading,  story- 
telling, and  handwork  are  so  combined  and  correlated  that 
geography  is  not  a  separate  subject.  Thus  the  geography 
which  furnishes  an  interesting  story,  that  which  is  connected 
with  a  historical  event,  and  the  portions  which  may  lend 
themselves  to  illustration  in  handwork  or  furnish  good  read- 
ing selections  are  chosen  as  being  especially  valuable  at  this 
time 


192       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

The  three  grades,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth,  are  rapidly  bein 
fixed  as  the  period  in  which  geography  is  taught  as  a  separat 
study.  This,  of  course,  does  not  include  commercial  geography 

The  elements  which  are  being  emphasized  are  : 

1.  Thorough  understanding  of  the  locational,  business 
and  commercial  geography  of  the  home  city,  county,  state,  and 
nation. 

2.  Constant  comparison  with  home  conditions  in  the  study 
of  other  places. 

3.  A  thorough  understanding  of  the  world  in  the  aspect 
of  its  larger  elements ;  that  is,  continents,  oceans,  large  rivers, 
mountain  ranges,  leading  countries,  and  important  cities. 

4.  As  much  specific  study  as  time  will  allow  of  the  various 
world   elements,   i.e.,   peoples,   industries,   places   of  interest, 
and  products  which  can  be  related  to  the  lives  of  the  children 
and  be  given  meaning  and  significance  to  them. 

Considering  the  above  principles  representative  of  the 
ideals  of  our  most  successful  schools,  any  teacher  may  evaluate 
lessons  and  courses  of  study  in  geography  so  as  to  teach  in 
such  manner  that  the  class  will  acquire  a  good  body  of  essen- 
tial and  valuable  knowledge,  which  will  form  the  core  of  the 
work.  Wide  contact  and  reading  should  form  the  background. 
Too  often  children  are  required  to  memorize  facts  which  are 
not  important,  contacts  are  not  wide,  and  nothing  definite  is 
retained.  Some  illustrations  of  facts  of  comparative  value  are  : 

Valuable  information : 

1.  Important  facts  about  the  home  city  are  the  locations 
of  the  chief  buildings,  as  post  office,  library,  parks,  places 
of  business,  etc.,  the  names  of  the  streets  and  a  knowledge  of 
numbering  so  as  to  be  able  to  locate  any  address  with  ease, 
an  understanding  of  the  city's  growth  and  size,  imports  and 
exports,  manufacturing  and  other  industries,  railroads,  tele- 
phones, and  the  like.  One  may  proceed  to  the  county  by  study- 


SELECTION  AND   EMPHASIS  193 

ing  in  a  comparative  way  other  cities  in  the  same  county,  the 
value  of  the  surrounding  country  to  the  home  city  and  the 
value  of  the  city  to  the  rest  of  the  county.  The  state  and 
nation  may  be  studied  in  the  same  way,  by  making  constant 
comparisons  with  local  conditions  and  by  revealing  the  influ- 
ences of  each  upon  the  other. 

2.  In  studying  foreign  countries  their  connections  with 
the  home  country  must  be  a  constant  part  of  the  work.  London 
is  a  great  commercial  center,  for  example.  How  does  it  com- 
pare with  New  York?  Why  are  New  York  and  London  such 
large  cities?  What  are  ten  other  large  cities  of  the  world? 
Why  have  all  of  them  become  large  cities  ?  What  does  America 
export  to  and  import  from  England?  Are  the  industries  of 
the  home  community  represented  in  this  commerce?  Are 
we,  therefore,  dependent  upon  business  success  in  London? 
etc.,  etc. 

Worthless  information  sometimes  required : 

1.  Memorizing  long  lists  of  cities  with  the  location  of 
each. 

2.  The  " bounding"  of  various  states  or  counties,  espe- 
cially distant  ones. 

3.  Studies  of  coast  lines  requiring  the  ability  to  outline 
and  name  bays,  capes,  peninsulas. 

4.  Memorizing  specific  lengths  of  rivers. 

5.  Memorizing  the  names  of  state   capitals.     Often  the 
capital  of  a  state  is  a  very  unimportant  place. 

6.  Memorizing  the  names  of  the  capitals  of  all  the  coun- 
tries of  a  continent,  as  South  America.     Only  the  capitals  of 
the  leading  world  powers  need  be  learned,  and  these  usually 
for  some  other  reason  than  the  fact  that  they  are  capitals. 

In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  a  wrong  emphasis  has  been 
made  in  geography  because  of  too  much  pure  memory  work  not 
connected  with  any  definite  purpose.  Once  let  the  teacher  begin 


194      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

to  teach  of  places  and  industries  for  their  specific  values  to  the 
children,  and  mistakes  are  not  likely  to  be  made. 

A  noted  American  educator  expressed  his  opinion  of 
the  old-style  memory  work  he  had  gone  through  in  geography 
by  the  statement,  "I  regard  my  knowledge  of  these  facts  as 
very  important.  I  may  be  called  upon  to  use  it  at  any  time. 
If,  for  instance,  a  burglar  should  come  into  my  house  to-night, 
place  a  pistol  at  my  temple,  and  tell  me  to  name  all  the  bays 
and  capes  of  Massachusetts  or  forfeit  my  life,  I  could  name 
them  for  him  and  thus  save  myself." 

The  Development  of  the  Present  Attitude  towards 
Subject  Matter.  Three  definite  periods  have  marked  the 
growth  of  the  subject  matter  which  now  makes  up  the 
American  elementary  school  curriculum.  They  may  be 
described  as  the  traditional,  the  hypercritical,  and  the 
evaluating  periods ;  the  last  is  the  product  of  the  strug- 
gle between  the  first  and  second.  Since  there  are  still 
many  representatives  of  the  traditional  as  well  as  of  the 
hypercritical,  it  is  well  that  we  consider  the  essential 
elements  and  basic  principles  of  these  periods  to  secure  a 
better  understanding  of  evaluation  and  selection. 

The  Reactionary  or  Traditional  View 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  school 
authorities  held  sway  in  a  manner  that  almost  approached 
divine  right.  Anything  that  pertained  to  the  school 
was  to  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course.  Those  who  did 
question  were  looked  upon  as  having  aligned  themselves 
against  the  forces  which  were  working  for  the  betterment 
of  mankind.  It  was  during  this  period  that  a  Boston 


SELECTION  AND   EMPHASIS  195 

superintendent  said  he  would  like  to  see  the  person  who 
could  find  anything  the  matter  with  any  school  in 
that  city.  This  is  an  instance  of  the  typical  attitude 
of  satisfaction  among  schoolmen  everywhere. 

During  this  time  most  of  the  curriculum  which  we  have 
inherited  was  becoming  established.  Due  to  lack  of 
criticism  little  care  was  used  in  its  selection.  Much  was 
incorporated  as  the  result  of  accident.  A  teacher,  after 
an  extended  period  of  trial  and  error  practice,  might 
suddenly  come  into  control  of  a  school  system.  Never 
having  been  schooled  in  educational  values,  he  naturally 
selected  the  high  points  in  his  own  experience  as  the 
standard  for  his  schools.  Change  came  slowly  or  not  at 
all.  Knowledge  was  looked  upon  as  an  end  in  itself. 
The  highest  aim  was  as  broad  an  acquaintance  with  the 
subject  matter  of  the  school  as  it  was  possible  to  attain. 
No  discrimination  was  made  between  facts  of  different 
value,  and  the  application  of  the  knowledge  gained  at 
school  was  not  to  be  doubted  or  specifically  questioned. 
Of  course,  it  did  not  function.  Its  value  was  merely 
assumed. 

The  subjects  taught  were  those  whose  materials  were 
easiest  to  obtain.  Those  which  demanded  the  least  equip- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  school  and  of  the  teacher  natu- 
rally came  to  the  front.  This  was  true,  not  because 
anyone  maliciously  planned  such  a  program,  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  general  lack  of  inquiry  into  school  practice 
everywhere.  Parents  paid  their  taxes  and  were  as  in- 
terested in  the  advancement  of  their  children  as  they  are 


196      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

to-day,  but  everyone  seemed  to  assume  that  sending 
them  to  school  was  the  final  parental  sacrifice.  Once  he 
was  successfully  through  school,  the  future  of  the  chile 
was  considered  assured.  Spelling,  reading,  arithmetic 
writing,  American  history,  and  geography  were  stressec 
as  the  "  essentials,"  and  now  and  then  a  few  other  sub- 
jects such  as  music,  drawing,  and  manual  work  were 
allowed  to  come  in  as  "  side  lines." 

This  view,  to  be  sure,  has  not  entirely  passed.  There 
is  always  a  minority  who  like  to  find  themselves  in  har- 
mony with  tradition.  This  group  also  finds  ready  re- 
cruits from  the  great  mass  of  incapables  who  cannoi 
attain  the  modern  standard.  Apparently  the  large 
body  of  traditional  supporters  is  a  product  of  the  tradi- 
tional school;  they  are  specialists  in  its  subject  matter 
they  earn  their  living  by  teaching  it.  It  is  too  late  foi 
them  to  change,  so  they  band  themselves  into  societies 
and  use  every  means  they  can  to  uphold  what  they  do 
Eliminate  those  who  have  financial  reasons  for  up- 
holding the  unselected  subject  matter  of  the  old  curricu- 
lum, and  few  would  be  left  to  defend  it.  It  is  readily 
understood,  for  example,  why  a  teacher  who  cannot 
speak  or  write  correct  English  will  advocate  diagraming 
and  parsing  in  the  place  of  teaching  effective  speaking  anc 
writing. 

The  Hypercritical  View 

The  period  of  establishment  having  passed,  the  work  o: 
the  more  active  schoolmen  was  no  longer  necessary  in 
arousing  intellectual  sluggishness  to  a  proper  support  o 


SELECTION  AND  EMPHASIS  197 

education.  Their  energies  were  now  turned  towards 
the  reform  and  improvement  of  the  schools.  This  grad- 
ually led  to  an  attempt  to  establish  education  as  a 
science  and  teaching  as  a  profession.  The  great  leaders 
of  the  new  movement  were  sane  in  their  criticisms  and 
sure  in  their  recommendations.  They  set  up  the  needs 
of  the  child  as  paramount  to  the  demands  of  the  curricu- 
lum. They  studied  childhood  and  established  a  concrete 
foundation  for  the  discovery  of  what  these  needs  were  and 
how  the  old  curriculum  violated  them.  They  gave  us 
a  general  philosophy  of  education  which  it  will  take  the 
world  centuries  to  live  up  to. 

Following  their  lead,  however,  there  has  sprung  up  a 
body  of  critics  who  are  more  destructive  than  construc- 
tive. They  seem  to  think  it  the  duty  of  an  educator  to 
criticize  that  which  is.  These  persons  may  be  said  to 
hold  the  hypercritical  view. 

The  hypercritic  is  in  the  same  class  with  the  political 
agitator.  His  development  has  been  brought  about  by 
a  series  of  circumstances.  First  of  all,  those  who  are 
temperamentally  unstable  and  pessimistic  will  always  be 
overcritical  of  any  line  of  work  they  enter.  We  find 
them  in  all  the  professions  and  trades.  Second,  there 
will  always  be  a  group  who  have  ideal  theories  which 
they  have  not  had  opportunity  to  practice ;  they  cannot 
realize  that  giving  advice  is  not  difficult,  but  that  carry- 
ing it  out  is  another  matter.  Third,  there  is  much  theory 
which  would  be  found  wanting  if  applied  in  actual  school 
work. 


198       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

The  difficulty  of  distinguishing  between  the  hyper 
critic,  who  has  no  basis  for  his  statements  nor  anything 
to  take  the  place  of  what  he  would  destroy  and  the  con 
structive  educational  student  is  one  of  the  factors  in 
the  lack  of  progress  in  practice.  The  public  knows  thai 
if  it  follows  the  traditional  view  it  is  not  likely  to 
create  new  difficulties  for  itself,  and  that  in  taking  th< 
advice  of  its  critics  and  trying  to  live  up  to  theii 
prescriptions,  unknown  difficulties  worse  than  those  a1 
hand  may  be  encountered.  As  a  hindrance  to  advance- 
ment the  hypercritic  is  the  hardest  problem  the  tru< 
reformer  has  to  deal  with. 


The  Modern  Study  of  Values 

During  the  last  decade  we  have  seen  leaders  in  educa- 
tional thought  joining  hands  with  the  administrator  in 
solving  the  tremendous  problems  which  the  latter  has  to 
face.  Instead  of  condemning  from  the  outside,  educators 
have  gone  inside  and  have  sympathetically  considerec 
the  values  of  what  they  find.  The  many  careful  surveys 
containing  constructive  recommendations  are  examples  oj 
this  new  union  between  theory  and  practice.  To  be  sure 
the  educational  "  expert  "  often  finds  that  many  of  his 
basic  principles  and  theories  will  not  work  when  he 
comes  to  apply  them  to  an  actual  school.  He  also  finds 
that  the  ability  to  wield  school  machinery  is  a  science  in 
itself;  for  in  helping  the  public  in  one  way,  it  is  very 
possible  to  injure  it  in  several  others. 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  199 

Principles  Underlying  Evaluation 

The  first  question  which  faced  those  who  were  striving 
properly  to  evaluate  the  work  of  the  school  was :  "  On 
what  basis  shall  we  judge  this  work?  ':  The  old  attitude, 
as  explained  above,  was  almost  a  worship  of  the  mastery 
of  subject  matter  regardless  of  its  application.  A  new 
spirit  of  criticism  was  beginning  to  condemn  the  course 
of  study  as  being  without  any  value. 

Function  in  Life  the  First  Principle.  There  is  no 
disagreement  among  educational  leaders  to-day  concern- 
ing the  basic  principle  in  the  evaluation  of  school  subjects. 
Their  use  in  life  or  functional  value  is  the  first  measure 
that  should  be  applied.  The  school  is  fast  eliminating 
subjects  and  parts  of  subjects  which  have  no  life  values. 

The  idea  of  function  must  not  be  limited  to  purely 
vocational  values.  To  be  able  to  earn  it  is  no  doubt  a 
basic  element  of  complete  living  but  not  necessarily  all 
of  it.  Subjects  of  social  value  and  those  which  teach 
one  to  appreciate  the  world  in  which  he  lives  must  also 
be  included.  The  ability  to  spend  spare  time  in  wise 
and  profitable  recreation  must  be  developed,  and  training 
which  will  insure  physical  and  mental  stability  is  just  as 
necessary.  The  principle  of  function  is  not  narrow  but 
it  is  definite.  There  are  four  specific  ways  in  which 
subject  matter  may  function  in  the  lives  of  those  who 
take  it.  These  are  : 

1 .  The  development  of  physical  and  mental  health.  Play, 
physical  training,  hygiene,  and  physiology  come  directly 
under  this  function,  and  are  the  most  important  subjects 


200      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

in  the  curriculum  because  physical  and  mental  health 
are  essential  to  the  full  realization  of  any  of  the  other 
aims  of  life.  The  school  has  not  appreciated  until  re- 
cently how  large  a  part  it  plays  in  developing  or  injuring 
the  health  of  children.  It  is  hard  to  convince  some  teach- 
ers that  it  is  more  essential  to  the  child's  development 
that  he  play  well,  than  that  he  study  arithmetic  or  gram- 
mar, but  we  are  progressing,  and  the  time  will  come  when 
at  least  one  fourth  of  our  regular  school  session  will  be 
spent  in  some  form  of  play. 

2.  Training  which  will  develop  the  ability  to  earn  a  living, 
or  to  produce  something  of  economic  value.     Woodwork, 
mechanics,  printing,  commercial  branches,  home  econom- 
ics courses,  and  agriculture  have  been  included  in  the  ele- 
mentary school  curricula  of  many  of  our  leading  schools 
as  pre- vocational  subjects.     These  are  gradually  finding 
a  larger  place  and  are  being  given  more  time.     From  the 
fifth  grade  up,  an  hour  a  day  should  be  devoted  to  some 
type  of  definite  pre-vocational  training. 

3.  Social  development.     A  third  factor  is  the  develop- 
ment of  the  child's  social  nature.     He  must  be  trained  to 
live  at  peace  with  his  neighbors  and  willingly  to  shoul- 
der social  responsibilities  in  living  up  to  his  duties  as  a 
citizen  of  his  community,  his  country,  and  the  world. 
Discipline,  civics,  history,  some  parts  of  literature,  and 
free  social  relationships  between  the  children  contribute 
directly  to  this  function. 

4.  Culture  and  recreation.     Education  must  place  man 
upon  a  higher  plane  by  giving  him  the  power  to  enjoy 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  201 

the  world  about  him  in  a  better  way  than  he  could  if  he 
merely  indulged  his  instincts.  Any  subject  which  con- 
tributes to  the  development  of  the  ability  to  appreciate 
better  things  is  quite  worth  while.  Culture,  however, 
has  been  a  very  ambiguous  term  in  the  past.  It  is 
gradually  being  coupled  with  recreation  by  modern  edu- 
cators. This  both  elevates  recreation  and  makes  culture 
practical.  Music,  art,  literature,  history,  nature  study, 
and  the  modern  languages  are  in  this  class.  Any  subject, 
however,  may  be  cultural  and  recreational  if  it  is  taught 
in  the  right  way. 

The  fundamentals  of  the  common  branches  are  essen- 
tial to  the  development  of  any  of  these  functions,  and  are 
regarded  everywhere  as  the  common  basis. 

The  Objective  in  Teaching  Every  Subject.  Every  sub- 
ject in  our  present  elementary  school  curriculum  can  be 
made  to  function  in  all  of  the  four  ways  described  above. 
The  chief  duty  of  the  teacher  is  to  select  the  useful  and 
discard  the  useless  parts,  and  to  use  methods  which  will 
relate  the  materials  selected  to  the  lives  of  the  children 
as  embracing  these  four  functions  of  subject  matter. 

Illustrations  of  the  application  of  these  principles  to  various 
subjects : 

Geography. 

The  illustrations  of  the  selection  of  vital  facts  in  this  sub- 
ject, as  given  earlier  in  this  chapter,  bring  out  all  the  four 
elements  of  the  usefulness  of  subject  matter. 

In  studying,  the  home  city  health  conditions  should  be  one 
of  the  chief  features  considered.  The  child  should  study  the 
water  system,  considering  at  all  times  the  possibilities  of  con- 


202       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

lamination.  He  should  know  how  his  city  ranks  with  others 
from  the  health  standpoint.  In  fact,  in  studying  the  activities 
of  man  anywhere  upon  the  face  of  the  globe,  the  teacher  should 
constantly  impress  upon  the  children  the  necessity  of  vitality 
and  health  in  the  pursuit  of  any  occupation.  When  the  child 
has  finished  his  course  in  geography,  he  should  have  a  better 
understanding  of  the  necessity  for  him  to  keep  up  and  further 
his  own  vitality. 

Geography,  of  course,  in  its  studies  of  industries,  occupa- 
tions, manufacturing,  etc.,  should  have  a  direct  vocational 
bearing.  From  it  the  child  should  learn  ways  and  means  of 
travel,  the  values  of  different  industries,  and  possibilities  of 
vocations.  This  knowledge  will  form  a  general  background 
for  any  vocation. 

Geography  can  be  taught  so  as  to  have  large  social  influ- 
ence upon  those  who  study  it.  In  learning  of  the  various 
elements  of  the  home  community,  state,  and  nation,  the  child 
should  come  in  contact  with  facts  which  will  make  him  a 
better  and  more  efficient  citizen.  In  learning  of  the  relation 
of  his  own  nation  and  community  to  foreign  countries,  his  social 
consciousness  is  enlarged.  The  City  of  Indianapolis  has 
recently  taken  a  great  educational  stride  by  combining  its 
history,  civics,  and  geography  courses. 

The  study  of  geography  may  be  made  to  function  in  the 
culture-recreational  direction  by  developing  the  child's  interest 
in  the  rest  of  the  world.  This  knowledge  should  be  valuable 
to  him  in  ordinary  conversations,  reading,  and  travel. 

Thus,  if  properly  selected,  the  subject  matter  of  geography 
may  be  made  to  fit  into  every  phase  of  the  function  of  educa- 
tional subject  matter.  That  it  has  not  done  this  in  the  past 
is  due  entirely  to  the  facts  that  were  selected  for  teaching  and 
the  methods  of  presenting  them.  There  is  plenty  of  valuable 
material  in  the  subject. 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  203 

History. 

History,  when  properly  selected,  also  furnishes  good  material 
in  all  four  fields. 

Health  and  vitality  can  readily  be  shown  to  be  a  basic 
feature  in  the  exploits  of  great  men  and  in  the  destiny  of  peoples. 
Washington  succeeded,  first  of  all,  because  he  was  a  vital 
man.  Every  boy  or  girl  who  studies  the  exploits  of  great 
men  should  be  impressed  by  this  fact.  The  Roman  empire 
declined  because  the  vitality  of  the  people  was  sapped  by 
easy  living  and  by  over-indulgence.  History  abounds  with 
instances  which  may  be  used  to  impress  upon  children  the 
necessity  of  vitality. 

Vocationally,  history  is  being  vitalized  by  substituting 
for  the  study  of  wars  and  of  battles  the  history  of  the  growth 
of  industries.  A  study  of  the  heroes  of  peace,  and  the  large 
part  that  is  always  played  by  labor  and  the  industries  in  the 
advancement  of  any  nation  either  in  war  or  in  peace  is  bound 
to  help  the  vocational  viewpoint. 

History,  like  geography,  has  large  social  values.  It  is 
readily  evident  to  anyone  who  will  study  the  teaching  of 
history  in  the  German  schools  that  this  has  had  a  direct  influ- 
ence in  bringing  about  the  world  war.  A  knowledge  of  history 
should  enlarge  the  vision  and  sympathies  of  the  student  as 
well  as  make  him  better  informed.  The  subject  is  invaluable 
from  this  angle. 

History  should  be  so  taught  that  the  child  will  want  more 
of  it.  He  will  thus  read  and  discuss  it  for  his  recreation.  Such 
recreation  is  highly  cultural. 

Methods  of  teaching  for  both  health  and  social  values 
are  considered  in  later  chapters.  They  are  neglected 
more  often  than  the  other  two. 


204       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

A  Second  Vital  Principle  Is  to  Make  Subject  Matter 
and  Methods  Conform  to  Physical  and  Mental  Growth 
of  Children.     Much  waste  is  incurred  and  immeasurable 
injury  is  inflicted  upon  those  whom  we  teach  when  we 
force  them  too  early  into  tasks  which  they  would  master 
later  on  as  a  matter  of  growth  and  when  we  defer  instruc- 
tion in  subjects  which  can  never  be  mastered  unless  their 
elementary  phases  are  studied  early.     To  adjust  rightly 
the  subject  matter  and  methods  of  the  school  to  the 
growth  of  children  is  not  fully  possible  with  our  presenl 
knowledge.     Meumann   has   collected   the   experimenta 
data  up  to  1910.     It  has  taken  two  large  volumes,  anc 
with  all  the  problem  of  adjusting  school  practice  to  chile 
growth  is  not  yet  solved.     There  is  a  consensus  of  opinion 
however,  among  practical  leaders  regarding  a  few  basic 
features  of  the  application  of  this  principle.     These  wil 
be  considered  in  a  general  way  since  space  does  not  per- 
mit the  bringing  in  of  experimental  evidence  at  this  time 
They  are : 

1.  The  mechanics  of  the  common  branches  should  b< 
learned  as  early  in  the  school  course  as  is  compatible 
with  physical  and  mental  health.  They  form  the  basis 
for  all  other  school  work  and  are  mastered  with  less  dif- 
ficulty early  in  life  than  at  a  later  period.  This  state- 
ment may  seem  to  run  counter  to  the  proposition  which 
has  been  so  well  demonstrated  in  experiment  that  up  to 
the  age  of  twenty  or  thereabouts  the  ability  to  memorize 
increases.  But  there  are  two  factors  in  mechanical  learn- 
ing :  the  first  is  the  act  of  learning  or  memorizing ;  the 


SELECTION   AND    EMPHASIS  205 

second  is  the  retention  and  application  of  that  which  is 
learned.  All  the  experimental  evidence  collected  by 
Meumann  points  to  the  fact  that  those  subjects  which 
must  be  retained  throughout  life  and  which  form  the 
constant  basis  of  all  mental  activities  should  be  learned 
early,  for  retention  is  best  at  this  time.  The  experiments 
of  Penschew,  Radossaljewitch,  the  Paris  Commission, 
and  Meumann,  all  coincide  upon  this  point.1  Children 
retain  better  than  adults.  This  idea  is  also  in  conform- 
ity with  the  law  of  Jost,  which  is,  that  of  two  associations 
equal  in  all  other  respects  the  older  is  remembered  best. 
In  accordance  with  this  law,  then,  one  who  has  learned 
the  multiplication  tables  at  the  age  of  seven  will  retain 
them  better,  all  other  factors  being  equal,  than  one  who 
learned  them  at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve.  Likewise  a 
foreign  language,  although,  learned  more  quickly  by  the 
adult,  is  mastered  better  and  may  be  applied  to  a  greater 
extent  by  one  who  learns  it  as  a  child.  The  multiplica- 
tion tables,  addition,  division,  and  subtraction,  correct 
usage,  pronunciation,  and  punctuation  in  English,  one 
foreign  language  if  any  is  to  be  learned,  spelling,  and  the 
bodily  habits  connected  with  writing  should  be  stressed 
in  the  lower  grades. 

The  question  of  health  and  spontaneity  has  been  raised 
in  this  connection.  A  number  of  our  leading  educators 
have,  with  good  grounds,  urged  that  little  children  should 
not  be  subjected  to  the  strenuous  methods  which  were  so 
commonly  used  in  learning  mechanical  facts  a  decade  ago. 
1  Meumann's  Vorlesungen.  Englemann  (publisher),  Leipzig. 


206       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Long  periods  of  drill  during  which  undivided  attention 
was  demanded,  the  old  disciplinary  methods  which  re- 
quired children  to  sit  still  and  in  specifically  designated 
positions,  and  lack  of  reaction  by  teachers  to  the  spon- 
taneous manifestations  of  the  children,  all  resulting  in 
injury  to  bodily  health,  overstrain  of  the  sense  organs, 
and  the  stagnation  of  the  imagination  and  emotions, 
are  common  features  of  the  school  which  teaches  mechan- 
ical facts  regardless  of  everything  else.  It  would  be  bet- 
ter for  the  children  and  for  the  state  to  close  our  schools 
than  to  teach  in  such  a  fashion ;  and  when  we  emphasize 
the  necessity  of  acquiring  the  useful  mechanics  of  the  com- 
mon branches  early  in  life,  we  must  not  in  any  way  allow 
the  teaching  of  these  mechanics  to  run  counter  to  any  of 
the  other  vital  principles  of  selection  and  emphasis.  By 
making  the  principle  of  function  come  first,  and  by  in- 
cluding as  the  most  vital  element  of  this  principle  the 
fostering  of  mental  and  physical  health,  the  danger  of 
physical  injury  is  eliminated  before  the  question  of  teach- 
ing the  mechanics  arises.  If  learning  them  is  a  physical 
detriment  to  the  children,  mechanics  should  be  discarded. 
However,  all  the  objectionable  factors  respecting  the 
learning  of  mechanical  facts  in  the  first  two  grades  or  in 
any  of  the  grades,  for  that  matter,  can  be  reduced  to  two  : 
(1)  overstrain  due  to  periods  of  work  which  are  too  long 
or  too  strenuous  requirements,  and  (2)  bad  methods  which 
tend  to  make  too  much  of  the  mechanical,  and  do  not 
allow  freedom  for  the  unfolding  of  the  child's  nature  in 
its  rational  development.  An  illustration  of  reading, 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  207 

writing,  spelling,  and  arithmetic  being  taught  in  the  first 
grade  with  large  results  and  without  any  of  these  ob- 
jectionable features  is  found  in  the  Francis  W.  Parker 
School.  Here  the  work  is  related  to  the  interests  of  the 
children  and  is  not  allowed  to  interfere  in  any  way  with 
their  spontaneity  or  health.  In  the  Horace  Mann  School, 
reading,  spelling,  and  writing  (or  printing)  were  for  several 
years  made  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  kindergarten.1  Good 
results  were  obtained  without  any  objectionable  methods 
being  used. 

2.  Abstract  association  must  not  be  expected  in  the 
lower  grades ;  it  is  only  beginning  to  develop  when  the 
child  leaves  the  elementary  school.  Following  this 
principle  we  must  strive  to  make  our  methods  and  mate- 
rials as  concrete  as  possible.  The  child  in  the  elemen- 
tary school  is  a  realist.  He  must  see,  touch,  and  hear 
the  real  materials  concerning  which  he  is  taught.  He 
must  do  more  as  well  as  talk  more. 

In  accordance  with  this  idea  the  school  is  turning  more 
to  life  illustrations,  museums,  and  laboratory  methods  in 
its  instruction.  Books  are  not  being  discarded,  and  prob- 
ably more  is  gained  from  their  use  than  ever  before, 
because  of  a  better  understanding  of  their  real  values ; 
however,  they  are  not  allowed  to  take  up  as  much  time  as 
they  once  did,  and  memorizing  their  contents  in  the  old 
mechanical  way  is  not  considered  worth  while  any  more. 
To-day  the  child  is  taught  to  read  a  book  in  order  to  find 
information  about  something  which  he  is  studying  in  a 
1  Teachers  College  Record,  Sept.  1916,  pp.  330-343. 


208       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

concrete  way,  and  what  he  finds  there  is  not  to  be  con- 
sidered the  end  of  his  lesson.  The  great  out-of-doors, 
manufacturing  establishments,  social  life  and  institu- 
tions, concrete  objects,  specimens,  and  books  make  up 
the  modern  text. 

3.  The  child  must  be  regarded  as  a  growing  organism. 
Therefore,  the  results  of  his  work  must  be  judged  from 
the  standpoint  of  his  development  and  not  in  a  commer- 
cial or  business  sense. )  If  a  growing  child  makes  a  mis- 
take, we  must  regard  his  mistake  as  an  indication  of  his 
immaturity  or  of  unsatisfactory  methods  which  were  em- 
ployed in  his  teaching.  In  no  case  is  he  to  be  personally 
judged  upon  the  basis  of  his  instability.  It  was  once 
the  custom  to  place  the  burden  of  responsibility  upon 
the  child.  Now,  although  children  are  not  condoned  for 
making  mistakes  or  for  wrong  actions,  the  burden  of 
responsibility  is  placed  where  it  rightfully  belongs,  upon 
the  shoulders  of  parents  and  teachers. 

For  example,  it  was  once  the  custom  to  assign  hard 
tasks  and  fail  all  those  who  could  not  accomplish  them, 
schools  being  judged  as  efficient  if  they  were  able  to  make 
the  requirements  so  difficult  that  a  large  number  of  chil- 
dren failed.  To-day  we  are  standardizing  our  require- 
ments and  are  measuring  results  by  judging  the  teacher's 
efficiency  in  bringing  a  class  up  to  the  best  modern  stand- 
ards. It  is  usually  an  indication  of  poor  teaching  or  im- 
possible requirements  (which  are  as  injurious  to  children 
as  are  tasks  that  are  too  easy  for  them),  if  a  large  number 
in  a  class  is  failed.  "  Mortality  like  gout,"  said  McAn- 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  209 

drew,  "  is  a  fashionable  disease."  But  the  school  world 
is  making  progress  in  dealing  with  this,  its  ancient  ail- 
ment, and  in  some  places  we  are  already  seeing  an  aver- 
age acceleration  rather  than  the  old  fifty  per  cent  retard- 
ation. In  large  cities  where  educational  machinery  has 
been  a  difficult  problem,  and  in  places  where  educational 
progress  has  been  slow,  retardation  is  still  large ;  but  in 
the  next  few  years  this  problem  is  going  to  be  attacked 
and  solved. 

The  fluctuation  found  in  a  child's  learning  any  new 
skill  is  an  important  factor  here.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  that  the  younger  the  child  the  greater  will  be  the 
fluctuations  in  his  advancement.  Teachers  have  not 
understood  the  significance  of  this  fact.  They  have 
expected  constant  progress.  Those  who  have  been 
measuring  education  have  failed  to  consider  unexplain- 
able  fluctuations  as  much  as  they  should.  The  child 
learns  by  spurts.  His  ability  advances  and  recedes.  To- 
day he  may  do  well  and  to-morrow,  without  any  appar- 
ent reason,  he  may  fall  far  below  this  attainment.  When 
we  know  more  about  these  fluctuations,  we  will  be  able 
to  deal  in  a  better  way  with  them,  but  at  present  we  can 
at  least  recognize  their  existence  and  not  expect  con- 
tinuous advancement.  The  failure  of  pupils  to  live  up 
to  expectations  at  critical  moments  has  been  a  source  of 
great  discouragement  to  teachers.  In  the  light  of  the 
facts  both  teachers  and  supervisors  must  learn  not .  to 
judge  recitations  or  the  development  of  children  by 
single  observations. 


210       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

It  is  impossible  in  this  volume  to  consider  in  detail  al 
the  many  phases  of  selection  and  methods  of  teaching 
school  subjects  in  accordance  with  child  development 
the  three  elements  of  this  principle  which  have  been  con- 
sidered here  have  been  preferred  on  account  of  the  larger 
attention  they  are  receiving  in  leading  schools. 

The  Selection  and  Emphasis  of  Subject  Matter  in 
Accordance  with  the  Difficulties  Which  Are  Encountered 
in  Learning  It.  A  great  deal  of  time  has  been  wasted  by 
teaching  subjects  and  parts  of  subjects  that  are  difficuli 
at  the  same  level  with  material  which  is  easily  learned 
The  critical  features  of  a  subject  must  be  discovered  anc 
stressed.  The  parts  that  are  easily  learned,  or  thai 
may  be  mastered  through  association  without  being 
brought  into  the  classroom,  should  be  known  by  the 
teacher  and  taught  accordingly.  Thus,  there  are  two 
elements  to  this  principle  of  selection. 

1.  The  selection  of  facts  and  processes  which  the  chil- 
dren need  to  know  and  which  are  especially  difficult  to 
master.  These  must  be  placed  before  the  child  at  the 
moment  his  mental  growth  has  reached  the  place  where 
he  can  study  them  to  advantage.  They  should  be 
stressed  and  associated  with  his  life  activities  in  every  pos- 
sible manner,  and  they  should  be  reviewed  and  selected 
for  special  emphasis  as  often  as  it  is  profitable  to  do  this, 

When  the  most  difficult  of  the  useful  subject  matter 
is  not  stressed  in  this  way,  we  leave  the  education  of  the 
child  who  is  finishing  elementary  school  in  a  very  chaotic 
state.  When  he  should  have  been  overcoming  the 


SELECTION   AND   EMPHASIS  211 

critical  difficulties  of  the  common  branches,  we  have  al- 
lowed him  to  drift  over  the  hard  places  and  leave  them 
behind  him.  His  life,  which  becomes  more  complex 
after  the  elementary  school  period,  does  not  allow  him 
opportunity  to  overcome  the  weak  places  that  the  school 
has  left  in  his  mental  make-up.  He  is  left  in  a  difficult 
position.  Many  adults  testify  that  they  would  have 
profited  vastly  had  they  mastered  in  the  elementary  school 
such  accomplishments  as  accuracy  in  the  fundamentals  of 
arithmetic,  the  habitual  use  of  correct  English,  the 
ability  to  express  themselves  in  writing,  the  ability  to 
stand  on  their  feet  and  say  what  they  wish,  and  a  hun- 
dred other  features  of  adult  life  which  can  be  developed 
in  childhood  if  the  critical  difficulties  are  analyzed  and 
overcome. 

2.  The  avoidance  of  overlearning,  of  teaching  the 
child  what  he  already  knows,  and  of  allowing  the  work  of 
the  school  to  become  too  easy,  is  managed  by  constantly 
eliminating  from  class  discussions  subjects  and  materials 
which  do  not  need  stressing.  This  element  of  principle 
three  is  important  from  the  standpoint  of  economy  of 
time.  When  we  spend  school  hours  having  the  child  spell 
words  which  he  already  knows,  practice  writing  when  he 
has  already  attained  satisfactory  speed  and  legibility, 
work  at  addition  when  his  speed  and  accuracy  are  good 
enough,  and  perform  like  tasks,  we  are  wasting  his  time. 

It  is  disintegrating  to  their  characters  for  children  to 
work  constantly  with  materials  which  are  too  easy  for 
them.  They  come  to  school  eager  and  willing  to  learn, 


212      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

but  if  they  do  not  need  to  make  any  effort  to  master  the 
subject  matter  assigned  to  them,  they  soon  lose  all  in- 
terest in  hard  work.  The  laziness  and  inability  of  chil- 
dren in  upper  grades  is  often  due  to  teaching  methods 
used  in  lower  grades.  They  have  been  taught  to  avoid 
work  and  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  their  condition. 

The  application  of  these  principles  will  be  considered  in 
relation  to  several  school  subjects  in  the  chapters  which 
follow. 


CHAPTER  X 
SELECTION  AND  EVALUATION   IN  ENGLISH 

The  Function  of  English.  English,  being  the  mother 
tongue,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  subjects  in  the  cur- 
riculum. It  should  be  made  a  central  feature  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  for  it  is  essential  from  economic,  so- 
cial, and  cultural  standpoints.  The  realization  of  these 
values,  however,  depends  upon  what  is  taught  in  the 
subject  called  English.  It  is  possible  for  children  to  be 
taught  so  as  to  reach  a  high  state  of  perfection  in  the  use 
of  English  before  they  leave  the  elementary  school.  It 
is  also  possible  to  teach  the  subject  without  any  improve- 
ment resulting  in  reading,  writing,  or  speaking.  It 
must  be  kept  in  mind  that  English  is  taught  in  order  to 
teach  children  to  speak,  write,  and  read  fluently,  accu- 
rately, and  correctly,  and  to  enjoy  and  appreciate 
good  literature.  There  is  no  other  reason  for  the  exist- 
ence of  this  subject  as  a  part  of  the  elementary  school 
curriculum. 

Oral  Expression.  The  most  important  function  of 
English  is  the  development  of  the  ability  to  speak.  In 
a  recent  address  President  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  of  the 
University  of  California  said,  "  The  greatest  possession 
a  boy  or  girl  can  have  is  the  English  language;  to  be 

213 


214       MODERN    ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

able  to  stand  on  his  own  two  legs  and  say  things."  This 
expresses  the  consensus  of  advanced  educational  thoughl 
as  regards  the  value  of  the  ability  to  speak  compared  with 
other  values  in  English. 

From  the  day  he  enters  school  the  child  should  be 
taught  to  speak  both  fluently  and  effectively.  Not 
week  should  pass  without  each  child  being  given  oppor- 
tunity to  make  an  extended  recitation  in  which  he  mus1 
organize  his  thoughts  and  express  them  to  his  fellows 
Constant  practice  accompanied  by  constructive  criticism 
is  necessary  to  develop  the  power  to  speak.  In  schools 
where  oral  English  has  been  stressed  from  the  beginning 
eighth-grade  graduates  often  excel  in  quality  and  effec- 
tiveness of  speech  college  seniors  who  have  not  had  this 
early  training. 

This  is  not  an  overstatement  of  the  case.  Forsevera 
years  I  have  given  the  same  tests  both  in  speaking  anc 
writing  to  college  seniors,  and  to  eighth-grade  children 
who  have  had  oral  English  training  Not  considering  in- 
dividual exceptions,  the  eighth  grade  usually  excelled  the 
seniors.  This  was  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  difference  in 
training.  Those  who  are  in  college  now  grew  up  for  the 
most  part  in  schools  which  taught  English  "  to  train  the 
mind/7  or  for  some  other  general  reason  just  as  indefinite. 
The  ability  to  speak  received  practically  no  training  and, 
of  course,  was  not  developed.  The  ineffectiveness  of 
courses  in  English  as  they  were  maintained  a  few  years 
ago,  and  as  they  are  found  in  many  places  even  to-day, 
may  be  witnessed  by  observation  of  a  few  high-school 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      215 

or  college  recitations.  Students  who  have  had  eight  or 
ten  years  of  the  old  style  English  or  "  grammar  for  its 
own  sake  "  either  plead  inability  to  tell  what  they  know 
or  appear  most  pitiful  in  their  bungling  attempts  to  ex- 
press themselves.  Full-grown  college  seniors  will  stand 
on  one  leg  with  face  averted  or  turned  to  the  floor  and 
mumble  recitations  which  cannot  be  understood  three 
paces  away.  Often  they  succeed  in  giving  only  a  small 
fraction  of  what  they  would  like  to  say  and  in  leaving,  per- 
haps, an  impression  just  the  opposite  of  the  one  intended. 

There  is  only  one  method  of  overcoming  this  difficulty. 
We  must  begin  as  early  as  possible  and  train  constantly 
in  speaking.  Heredity  is  a  factor  in  the  backwardness 
of  many,  but  it  is  by  no  means  to  blame  for  the  situ- 
ation described  above.  It  has  been  found  that  most  dif- 
ficulties in  oral  expression  are  readily  eliminated  by  prac- 
tice. Not  only  must  every  lesson  in  all  subjects  be  an 
English  lesson,  but  we  must  also  have  a  daily  period 
affording  opportunity  for  practice  and  for  constructive 
criticism  of  the  effort. 

Written  English.  The  necessity  for  being  able  to  write 
effectively  is  met  with  in  all  vocations  —  in  some,  of 
course,  more  than  in  others  —  in  social  life,  and  in  the 
cultural  aspects  of  living.  Its  importance  is  second 
only  to  the  ability  to  speak.  Comparisons  between 
modern  elementary  schools  which  stress  the  functional 
elements  of  English  and  schools  of  the  old  type  which 
teach  English  with  no  specific  purposes  reveal  the  ad- 
vantage of  emphasizing  fluent,  accurate,  and  effective 


216      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

writing.  This  function  may  be  developed  by  constant 
practice  under  constructive  criticism,  and  the  earlier, 
within  reasonable  limits,  that  it  is  begun  the  better. 
In  the  Francis  Parker  School  the  children  in  the  first 
grade  express  themselves  in  writing  and  make  diction- 
aries of  the  words  whose  use  they  are  to  master.  By  the 
time  these  same  children  finish  the  eighth  grade,  their 
ability  to  express  themselves  in  writing  has  been  de- 
veloped to  a  state  surprising  to  those  who  have  not 
witnessed  the  written  work  of  elementary  grades  in  a 
school  of  this  type. 

Reading  and  the  Study  of  Literature.  The  ability  to 
read  and  interpret  the  printed  page  is  essential  to  progress 
in  most  vocations.  It  is  also  necessary  in  order  to  learn 
of  social  developments  that  one  may  become  a  better 
social  being ;  and  it  has  great  culture-recreational  value. 
However,  if  we  teach  literature  and  reading  from  this 
standpoint,  our  methods  and  the  subject  matter  stressed 
must  be  quite  different  from  the  methods  and  subject 
matter  of  the  traditional  school.  The  following  factors 
are  being  made  the  central  features  of  courses  in  modern 
schools : 

1.  Silent  reading  is  more  important  than  oral  reading. 
The  ability  to  read  orally  in  such  a  way  as  to  entertain 
others  is  of  very  little  use  to  the  average  person.  Only 
the  few  who  become  entertainers  will  need  such  an  ability 
to  a  very  great  extent.  Silent  reading,  that  which  in- 
terprets the  printed  page,  is  the  reading  which  must  be 
stressed.  Too  much  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  the 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      217 

ability  to  read  with  good  expression ;  not  enough  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  the  development  of  the  ability 
to  "  tear  the  heart  out  of  a  book/'  to  know  what  to  re- 
member and  what  to  neglect,  and  to  supplement  problems 
and  projects  by  covering  a  large  amount  of  literature 
rather  than  by  memorizing  the  statements  of  a  text. 

2.  Literature  studied  from  the  cultural  standpoint 
must  be  so  taught  that  it  will  function  in  the  direction 
intended.  Too  often  when  a  book  is  studied  in  school 
the  work  is  associated  in  the  child's  mind  with  pain  and 
drudgery,  and  after  he  has  finished  it,  he  never  volun- 
tarily refers  to  it  again.  He  is  usually  through  with  the 
author  forever.  Wide  acquaintance  with  good  books, 
the  fostering  of  the  reading  habit,  and  the  selection  of  high 
class  material  which  appeals  to  children  are  three  vital 
factors  in  teaching  literature. 

Illustrations  of  Functional  English.  In  developing  the 
above  abilities  the  topics  below  should  be  stressed.  It  is 
easier  for  the  teacher  when  these  are  made  the  essential 
features  in  his  course  of  study,  but  with  any  course  to 
cover  it  is  possible  to  place  more  stress  upon  the  im- 
portant elements. 

Daily  practice  in  speaking  by  every  child,  when  possible. 

Written  work  at  least  once  per  week  by  every  child. 

The  reading  of  a  few  good  books  in  every  grade,  a  partial 
reading  of  a  large  number  of  others,  and  the  fostering  and 
stimulation  of  the  reading  habit. 

Grammar  and  the  mechanical  features  of  speaking,  writing, 
and  reading  to  the  extent  that  they  are  helpful  in  a  functional 


218       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

way.  There  have  been  many  so  called  functional  outlines 
of  grammar  facts.  The  one  which  follows  was  made  by  Miss 
Amy  Foote,  training  teacher  in  the  State  Teachers  College, 
Greeley,  Colorado.  It  is  given  in  full  here  on  account  of  the 
remarkable  success  of  Miss  Foote's  work  in  developing  power  in 
children  to  speak,  write,  and  read  effectively. 

The  Study  of  Grammar 
SENTENCE  USED  AS  A  BASIS  OF  STUDY 

1.  Sentence  as  a  whole  clearly  vocalized. 

(a)   Subject  clearly  vocalized. 

(6)    Predicate  clearly  vocalized. 

(c)    Kinds  of  Sentences  as  to  meaning. 

2.  Sentence  types. 

(a)   Simple : 

The  function  of  this  sentence  is  to  express 
with  utmost  clearness  a  single  idea  —  to  give  emphasis. 

(6)    Compound : 

The  function  of  this  sentence  is  to  express 
an  idea  which  contains  two  or  more  equally  important  notions 

(c)    Complex : 

The  function  of  this  sentence  is  to  express 
the  central  idea  in  the  independent  clause,  but  at  the  same 
time  to  modify  the  chief  idea  with  clearness  and  correctness 
In  this  connection,  a  comparative  study  as  to  the  most  effective 
use  of  the  three  types  of  sentences  as  to  structure  and  use  shouk 
be  made  —  each  word,  phrase,  or  clause  should  be  placed  in 
the  sentence  where  it  stands  for  the  most  in  making  the  sen 
tence  correct,  clear,  and  elegant ;  no  needless  word  or  words 
should  be  used ;  no  necessary  word  or  words  should  be  omitted 
and  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  selecting  the  choicest 
words. 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      219 

3.   Modifiers. 

(a)   Subject : 

(1)  Word, 


(2)  Phrase, 


() 


Function.     Must  be  known  for 


ause'      agreement,     proper    emphasis, 


,         punctuation,  etc. 

(1)  Word, 

(2)  Phrase, 

(3)  Clause, 


In  this  connection,  modifiers  should  be  considered  a 
means  of  expansion  of  thought,  hence  the  child  should  become 
conscious  of  the  relative  emphasis  each  group  affords.  One 
can  now  see  how  the  parts  of  speech  become  at  once  needful 
and  alive  instead  of  isolated,  disjointed  scraps  of  facts  :  they 
are  truly  tools  or  so  much  timber  with  which  the  child  builds  up 
his  house  of  speech.  We  need  to  know  the  names  of  our  vari- 
ous tools  only  as  we  come  gradually  to  need  them  as  we  pro- 
gress from  our  homesteader's  one-room,  subject-and-predicate 
house,  as  "Snow  falls,"  to  our  last  and  great  house,  the  com- 
plex sentence. 

4.   Parts  of  Speech  —  with  only  such  divisions  as  are  of 
practical,  everyday  value. 
(a)    Noun  : 

(1)  Kinds. 

Proper  —  for  capitalization. 
Common  —  for  comparative  study. 

(2)  Form. 

Possessive  —  especially   emphasized. 
(6)    Pronoun  : 

(1)  Kinds. 

Personal  —  for  agreement. 
Relative  —  for    agreement. 


220      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

(2)  Properties. 

Case  —  for  correct  form. 

Person  forms  —  especially  emphasized. 

(c)  Adjective. 

(1)  Kinds. 

Proper  —  for  capitalization. 
Common  —  for  comparative  study. 

(2)  Properties. 

Comparison  —  for  correct  forms. 

(d)  Verb. 

(1)  Kinds  according  to  use. 

Transitive  —  lay,  set,  etc. 
Intransitive  —  lie,  sit,  etc. 
Copulative  —  followed  by  nominative. 

(2)  According  to  form. 

Regular,  or  weak. 
Irregular,  or  strong. 

Study  the  Principal  Parts  of  the  Verb,  selecting  40  of  the 
most  commonly  misused  to  drill  upon. 

(3)  Tenses. 

Present  —  Present  Perfect.  1  For  cor- 
Past  —  Past  Perfect.  j  rect  forms. 

Future. 

Special  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the  agreement 
of  the  verb  and  its  subject  in  number  and  person. 

(e)  Adverb. 

(1)  Properties. 

Comparison  especially  emphasized. 
("/)  Preposition. 

(1)    Its    object,    e.g.,     "between    him    and 
(/)  me,"  etc. 

(g)   Conjunction. 
(1)  Kinds. 

Coordinating ;  subordinating. 


SELECTION    AND    EVALUATION    IN    ENGLISH      221 

Used  as  tools  in  compound  and  com- 
plex sentences  and  of  use  to  the  child  only  in  helping  to  show 
the  relationship  of  one  part  of  the  sentence  to  another. 
(h)    Interjection. 

(1)  Function  —  Emphasis  and  surprise. 
Punctuation   introduced   early   in   this   study   with   the 
sentence  as  to  meaning,  and  carried  on  throughout  study. 

Seeing  all  elements  with  which  the  class  is  capable  of  dealing, 
in  relation  to  the  entire  sentence,  results  in  completeness  of 
syntax ;  viewing  each  part  in  relation  to  what  it  enables  one 
to  do  in  expressing  thought  results  in  clear-cut  structure,  hence 
improvement  of  speech,  clearness  of  expression. 

5.   Composition  —  development  of  paragraph  sense. 
(a)    Oral. 
(6)    Written. 

Much  attention  to  organization  —  rela- 
tive values  and  initiative  by  children. 

(1)  Original. 

(2)  Reproduction. 

(c)  Paragraph  Structure  and  Content. 

(1)  Indentation. 

(2)  Margin. 

(3)  Topic  Sentence  (subject  sentence). 

(4)  Developing  Sentences  (predicate  sentence) . 

(5)  Rounding  out  sentence. 

(d)  Subject  Matter. 

(1)  Personal      Interests  —  persons,      places, 
things. 

(2)  Narration  and  description. 

(3)  Letter  writing. 

(a)  Social  notes  —  invitations,  etc. 

(6)  Social  letters. 

(c)  Business    letters  —  telegrams,    ad- 
vertisements, etc. 


222      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

(d)  Form. 

(1)  Salutation. 

(2)  Complimentary  close. 

(3)  Place  of  date,  address. 

(e)  Envelope. 

(1)  Placing  of  address. 

(2)  Spacing  of  address. 

6.  Study  of  literature  and  reading. 

(a)  Long  stories. 

(b)  Structure. 

(1)  Narrative  steps  —  A  feeling  for  structur 
—  growth  of  plot  —  to  be  read  rapidly. 

(a)  For  thought  and  picture  of  times 
(6)  Oral  interpretation. 

(c)  Short  story  or  "  cuttings." 

(1)  Oral  interpretation. 

(2)  Character  study. 

(3)  Humor  of  theme,  etc. 

(4)  Narrative  structures. 

(d)  Dramatization  (discussed  in  detail  in  a  forme 
chapter). 

(e)  Poems. 

(1)  Music. 

(2)  Pictures. 

(3)  Power  to  inspire. 

(4)  Feeling  for  structure. 

7.  Most  valuable  and  economic  use  of  textbook  shoul 
be  emphasized. 

Selection  in  English  Based  upon  Growth  of  Children 

Many  Difficulties  Overcome  by  Growth.  There  are 
no  doubt,  special  psychological  stages  in  the  child's  de 
velopment  at  which  times  it  would  be  best  to  teach  def 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      223 

inite  groups  of  facts,  but  individual  differences  are  so 
large  and  experimental  data  are  so  difficult  to  obtain  that 
general  rules  are  hard  to  formulate  and  even  more  dif- 
ficult to  apply  in  teaching.  The  best  rule  to  use,  after 
a  decision  has  been  made  regarding  the  functional  ele- 
ments, is  to  expose  the  children  to  such  groups  of  facts 
as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  comprehend  their  significance. 
Then  review  them  in  all  possible  relations  as  often  as 
profitable  results  seem  to  follow.  Many  difficulties  in- 
curred in  the  lower  grades  will  be  overcome  as  the  chil- 
dren advance.  A  large  number  of  mistakes  will  be 
automatically  eliminated  by  explanations  which  can  only 
be  understood  in  the  upper  grades  where  opportunity  is 
allowed  the  children  to  apply  the  grammar  they  learn. 
Agreement,  tense  forms,  use  of  comma,  transitive  and 
intransitive  verbs  (lay,  lie,  etc.),  and  other  topics  must 
be  taught  when  special  instances  involving  them  occur  in 
the  lower  grades.  Correct  and  effective  usage  should 
be  mechanized  as  a  matter  of  habit,  if  possible,  before 
the  use  of  incorrect  forms  becomes  habitual. 

Mechanics  in  Lower  Grades  and  Rational  Relations 
in  Upper  Grades.  Everything  which  is  a  matter  of 
mechanical  memory  should  be  mastered  as  early  in  the 
curriculum  as  possible  without  running  counter  to  any 
of  the  other  important  factors  in  the  child  ^development. 
When  children  come  from  good  homes  and  do  not  associ- 
ate with  companions  who  use  inferior  English,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  develop  good  habits  of  speaking  and  writing 
without  teaching  grammar.  But  every  child  is  sure 


• 

:: 


224       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

sooner  or  later  to  come  in  contact  with  incorrect  usag 
and  should  be  taught  those  facts  of  grammar  which  wi 
make  it  possible  for  him  to  discover  correct  and  effectiv 
forms  for  himself  when  he  is  in  doubt.     If  we  make  thi 
aim  the  basis  of  our  English  work,  it  will  be  necessary 
constantly  to  connect  every  lesson  in  grammar  with   th 
writing  and   speech   of  the   children.     Special   emphas 
will  have  to  be  placed  upon  the  use  to  him  of  every  fac 
in  grammar  that  he  learns.     In  examining  and  testing 
we  must  base  our  records  upon  an  understanding  by  the 
child  of  this  use  as  well  as  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
and  processes. 

Illustrative  Course  of  Study  in  English  Based  upon 
Function  and  upon  Growth  of  Children.  Experience  in  a 
number  of  schools  has  proved  that  the  course  which  fol- 
lows may  be  taught  with  success  in  the  grades  suggested 

The  work  in  the  lower  grades  may  seem  too  difficult,  bu 
if  taught  informally  and  made  an  outgrowth  of  the  lives 
the  children  good  results  may  be  obtained  in  all  the  thre 
functions  of  English. 

GRADE  1 

Oral  English :  Constant  practice  in  listening  to  and  tellin 
stories,  telling  experiences,  and  reciting  lessons.  Direct  state 
ments,  clear  enunciation,  and  telling  language  should  be  en 
couraged  and  stimulated. 

Written  English :  A  fair  grasp  of  the  simple  sentence  prop 
erly  punctuated  and  capitalized.  The  writing  of  records 
letters,  and  stories.  (Writing  may  be  objected  to  in  first 
grade  work,  but  children  are  very  anxious  to  write  here,  am 
they  should  be  allowed  to  write  in  the  simplest  way.  Forma 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      225 

requirements  should  not  be  made  in  this  work,  but  it  should 
grow  out  of  the  interests  of  the  children.  An  example  of  such 
work  as  done  in  the  Horace  Mann  School  is  described  in  the 
Teachers  College  Report,  September  1916,  pp.  330  to  343.  A 
description  of  work  of  this  kind  will  be  found  in  the  catalogue 
of  the  Francis  Parker  School.)  Instruction  in  the  use  of  capitals 
for  the  days  of  the  week,  months,  proper  nouns  (taught  as 
special  instances,  of  course),  and  the  pronoun  I.  The  use  of 
the  period  and  the  question  mark.  The  use  of  the  larger 
muscles  and  materials  stressed.  Lists  of  words  written  and 
bound  into  booklets  by  the  children. 

Literature  and  reading.  Ability  to  use  phonics  as  an  aid 
in  pronunciation  should  be  developed.  A  reading  vocabulary 
of  from  250  to  400  words  may  be  acquired  in  this  grade  by 
the  average  child.  Acquaintance  with  a  large  number  of 
good  stories,  and  the  reading  of  a  number  of  primers  and  one 
or  two  first  readers  should  be  a  central  feature  of  the  work. 
Reading  is  learned  through  wide  association  rather  than  by 
memorizing  the  selections  of  one  or  two  books.  Poetry  and 
prose  selections  which  are  interesting  to  the  children  should  be 
memorized.  A  great  deal  of  dramatizing  should  be  done. 

GRADE  2.     (Review   and   reestablish   all   the    results    of   the 
preceding  work.) 

Oral  English:  Retelling  stories,  telling  short  stories  for 
the  first  time,  some  practice  at  planning  short  oral  composi- 
tions; insistence  upon  clear  seeing  and  thinking  as  a  part  of 
telling.  Refining  and  improving  oral  English  stressed  in  this 
grade.  Here  the  children  may  be  taught  to  desire  correct 
usage,  and  this  desire  is  likely  to  be  retained.  If  it  is  not 
formed  in  the  two  lower  grades  it  may  be  impossible  to  establish 
until  after  graduation  from  high  school.  At  this  age  children 
respond  to  arbitrary  assurance  that  certain  language  forms 
Q 


226       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

should  be  used  because  they  are  right.  Later  they  drift 
along  by  using  any  language  they  find  satisfactory  in  obtaining 
what  they  want.  The  overcoming  of  habitual  usage  becomes 
a  harder  problem  each  succeeding  year. 

Written  English :  Papers  written  on  anything  of  interest 
in  any  of  the  school  work  or  on  outside  interests.  One  at 
least  each  week,  its  length  depending  upon  the  individual 
child's  abilities.  Stress  sentence  structure,  and  proper  punc- 
tuation (all  simple  sentences).  Teacher  and  children  plan 
compositions  together.  Correct  use  of  capitals  made  habitual ; 
the  comma  introduced,  abbreviations  such  as  Mr.,  Mrs., 
and  initials  of  personal  names  taught.  A  writing  vocabulary 
from  300  to  500  words  may  be  established  in  this  grade. 

Literature  and  reading:  Study  in  silent  reading  by  telling 
what  is  found  on  the  different  pages  before  a  story  or  selection 
is  read  orally;  reading  books  to  find  special  information  de- 
manded in -projects  and  problems;  reading  and  dramatizing 
selections  from  first  and  second  reader;  wide  acquaintance 
and  pleasant  association  with  the  thought  to  be  stressed  rather 
than  the  ability  mechanically  to  interpret  a  few  selections. 
The  ability  to  use  phonics  in  the  interpretation  of  words  would 
be  perfected  in  this  grade.  The  ability  to  read  well  is  not 
being  stressed  so  much  for  the  first  two  grades  as  it  formerly 
was.  Reading  is  one  of  the  most  unhygienic  subjects  on  ac- 
count of  the  eyestrain  necessitated.  Two  ten  or  fifteen-minute 
periods  a  day  suffice.  This  is  one  of  the  subjects  in  which 
growth  is  a  large  factor.  Small  children  have  been  forced  to 
undergo  nervous  and  physical  strain  in  learning  to  read  in  the 
first  two  grades  selections  which  natural  growth  would  have 
overcome  and  the  strain  avoided.  Backwardness  in  oral 
reading  need  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  child's  advancement. 
He  may  never  need  this  ability.  The  non-necessity  for  glib 
oral  interpretation  cannot  be  stressed  too  much.  It  is  hard  for 
the  small-town  principal  or  superintendent  to  get  away  from 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      227 

the  fact  that  the  children  need  not  be  able  to  do  good  oral  read- 
ing for  him  when  he  visits  a  first-,  second-grade  or  third-grade 
room.  The  more  hygienic  purely  memory  subjects  are  tak- 
ing the  place  of  the  large  amount  of  reading  once  taught  in  the 
first  two  grades. 

GRADE  3.     (Review  to  reestablish  abilities  already  acquired.) 

Oral  English  :  Story  telling ;  dramatizing  stories ;  increased 
development  of  language  consciousness.  Story  telling  used 
by  children  in  connection  with  all  content  subjects  such  as 
literature,  history,  geography,  and  nature  study.  Stress 
ability  to  speak  correctly  and  effectively  on  every  possible 
occasion. 

Written  English  :  The  beginning  of  a  feeling  for  paragraphs 
and  divisions  of  thought ;  capitals  in  the  cases  of  first  word 
in  a  line  of  poetry,  first  word  in  a  direct  quotation  when  it 
begins  a  sentence,  the  interjection  O ;  more  association  with 
the  use  of  the  comma;  habitually  correct  use  of  the  period 
and  question  mark ;  some  knowledge  of  quotation  marks  and 
the  exclamation  point.  Stories  told  them  by  the  teacher  are 
written  by  the  children.  At  least  once  each  week  the  teacher 
and  the  class  write  on  the  board  a  story  that  they  all  know. 
They  try  to  tell  it  in  their  own  words  in  the  best  possible  way. 
The  members  of  the  class  discuss  the  paragraphing  and  the 
words  used  while  the  teacher  writes. 

Grammar  facts  which  must  be  made  to  function  in  the  oral 
and  written  work  of  the  children  as  they  are  taught :  Atten- 
tion of  children  called  to  dependent  clauses  and  the  ability 
to  recognize  them  developed ;  a  functional  method  of  illustrat- 
ing these  clauses  is  to  call  attention  to  them  when  they  precede 
the  main  clause.  A  use  of  the  comma  is  thus  learned.  Some 
knowledge  of  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  and  subject  and  predi- 
cate may  be  acquired  in  this  grade.  There  is  nothing  rational 
about  these  elements  of  grammar,  and  they  are  learned  more 


228       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

readily  if  introduced  in  the  third  grade  than  if  left  until  the 
upper  grades. 

Literature  and  reading:  A  variety  of  reading  used  to  de- 
velop facility  in  interpretation  and  a  taste  for  good  literature ; 
dramatizing  and  acting  stories  with  more  specific  attention 
by  the  children  to  costuming,  stage  setting,  and  the  language 
used ;  reading  orally  and  memorizing  many  selections  of  good 
poetry.  After  becoming  interested  in  a  reader  the  child 
should  be  encouraged  to  take  it  home  and  finish  it. 

GRADE  4.     (Review  to  reestablish  abilities  already  acquired.) 

Oral  English :  From  the  fourth  through  the  eighth  grades 
morning  exercises  should  be  a  constant  motive  for  the  prepara- 
tion by  a  child  or  a  group  of  children  of  something  special,  either 
a  recitation  in  a  regular  subject,  a  play,  or  a  dialogue.  The  work 
is  criticized  by  the  class  and  the  teacher  from  the  standpoint  of 
effectiveness,  beauty,  and  clearness.  Ability  to  use  effective 
English  developed  by  stressing  its  use  on  every  occasion. 

Written  English:  More  attention  to  clearness  and  beauty 
of  style ;  ability  to  think  in  paragraphs  developed  further ; 
punctuation  by  use  of  period,  question  mark,  exclamation 
point,  comma ;  capitalization  continued.  Short  papers  written 
for  use  in  recitations.  Some  written  work  at  least  once  each 
week  should  be  done ;  dictation  by  the  teacher  of  paragraphs 
designed  to  bring  into  play  the  mechanical  abilities  which 
the  children  are  developing. 

Grammar  facts,  which  must  be  made  to  function  in  the 
oral  and  written  work  of  the  children  as  they  are  taught; 
continuation  of  subject  and  predicate,  dependent  clauses, 
nouns,  verbs,  and  adjectives ;  introduction  of  adverb. 

Reading  and  literature :  Wide  exposure  to  good  literature. 
Silent  reading  and  ability  to  pick  out  the  most  important  parts 
of  texts  and  reference  books  in  geography,  nature  study,  etc., 
stressed ;  study  for  appreciation. 


SELECTION  AND    EVALUATION    IN    ENGLISH       229 

FOUR   UPPER  GRADES.     (Review   essential   and   difficult   ele- 
ments constantly.) 

For  the  four  lower  grades  specific  treatment  was  furnished 
for  each  grade  because  it  is  in  the  first  four  grades  that  we 
usually  make  the  mistake  of  doing  little  or  nothing  besides 
developing  the  ability  to  read  orally.  In  the  fifth,  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  grades,  the  functional  English  as  outlined 
in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  should  be  presented,  as  much 
as  possible  being  mastered  in  each  grade,  with  constant  re- 
views. Before  the  child  finishes  the  eighth  grade  he  should 
be  able  to  speak,  write,  and  read  fluently  and  effectively. 

The  Selection  for  Stress  of  the  Most  Difficult  Features  of  English 

Studies  of  Children's  Mistakes.  There  have  been 
quite  a  number  of  studies  of  oral  and  written  mistakes  of 
children.  These  have  been  tabulated  and  compared 
with  the  result  that  we  now  have  a  list  of  difficult  features 
which  is  fairly  representative.  Studies  have  been  made 
in  the  elementary  schools  of  Cincinnati,  Kansas  City, 
Boise  (Idaho),  and  in  a  number  of  other  places.  Chart- 
ers l  has  recently  reviewed  all  these  studies,  and  has  made 
a  course  of  study  for  Kansas  City  based  upon  his  findings. 
In  selecting  for  emphasis  special  difficulties  in  English  it  is 
always  better  to  make  a  study  of  the  local  community 
and  base  the  work  in  English  upon  the  discoveries. 
Teachers  and  pupils  will  both  attack  such  a  course  with 
greater  zest,  for  they  know  that  they  are  working  upon 
their  own  problems.  English  difficulties  are  often  due 
to  the  colloquial  irregularities  of  the  language  of  the 

n6th  Year  Book  of  the  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Edu- 
cation, 1917. 


230      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

community.  Thus,  a  course  designed  to  overcome  these 
is  likely  to  be  quite  effective. 

Majority  of  Inadequate  and  Ungrammatical  Expres- 
sions Due  to  the  Repetition  of  a  Few  Common  Errors. 

In  studies  of  children's  errors  it  has  been  found  that  the 
majority  of  mistakes  was  due  to  the  constant  repetition 
of  a  few  common  errors.  The  large  functional  elements 
which  seem  to  cause  trouble  are : 

1.  Self-consciousness.  This  is  the  arch  enemy  of  all 
beginners  in  learning  to  speak  and  write  effectively.  It 
may  be  overcome  by  a  wise  use  of  sympathy  and  en- 
couragement on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  It  is  difficult 
for  a  child  to  overcome  mistakes  and  at  the  same  time 
not  hinder  expression  by  becoming  self-conscious.  A 
great  deal  of  practice  will  assist  in  dealing  with  this 
trouble.  We  must  constantly  keep  before  the  teacher 
the  fact  that  he  must  encourage  expression  and  develop 
fluency  before  he  can  cure  any  of  the  child's  language 
ills.  The  school  has  too  often  in  the  past  served  to  dry 
up  the  source  of  expression.  Children  get  the  idea  that 
it  is  better  to  say  nothing  than  to  make  a  mistake,  and, 
following  their  idea  to  its  logical  conclusion,  they  learn 
to  say  nothing.  When  they  leave  school,  they  find  that 
they  cannot  express  themselves  as  well  as  those  who 
have  never  gone  to  school.  This  situation  is  very 
noticeable  when  we  apply  the  same  idea  to  the  teaching 
of  foreign  languages.  After  taking  French,  for  from  three 
to  six  years,  university  and  college  graduates  usually 
go  out  without  the  ability  to  speak  the  language.  They 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      231 

were  taught  to  have  so  much  respect  for  exactness  and 
so  little  stress  was  placed  upon  fluency  that  they  mas- 
tered the  former  but  were  not  able  to  say  anything  upon 
which  they  could  use  their  ideas  of  exactness.  Hap- 
pily this  situation  in  the  teaching  of  foreign  language  is 
being  rapidly  overcome.  In  a  few  years  teaching  which 
does  not  enable  those  who  study  a  language  to  speak  it 
will  not  be  tolerated.  Exactness  and  correctness  are 
very  worth  while,  but  they  have  no  place  unless  at  the 
same  time  fluency  is  developed. 

2.  The  second  large  difficulty  met  with  in  developing 
the  ability  to  speak  and  write  fluently,  effectively,  and 
correctly  is  subject  matter.  Children  and  adults  com- 
plain constantly  that  they  have  nothing  to  say.  They 
are  not  conscious  of  the  great  world  of  action,  life,  death, 
struggle,  pain,  and  joy  which  greets  them  at  every  step  and 
waits  to  be  interpreted.  The  same  difficulty  is  probably 
at  the  foundation  of  both  1  and  2  :  lack  of  fluency. 

Children  and  adults  must  be  taught  to  see,  hear,  and 
feel  the  elements  of  the  great  world  by  which  they  are 
surrounded.  Then  they  must  practice  telling  and  writ- 
ing them.  Like  the  artist  who  paints  the  commonplace 
but  by  bringing  a  certain  element  of  it  into  the  foreground 
shows  its  true  value,  the  person  who  speaks  and  writes 
must  be  able  to  express  the  subtle  features  of  life  and 
the  world  to  his  fellows.  One  who  has  developed  this 
ability  will  find  it  valuable  to  him  in  gaining  friends,  in 
living  a  truer  and  larger  social  life,  in  following  his  voca- 
tion, no  matter  what  it  may  be,  and  in  enjoying  life  in 


232       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

any  locality.  Yet  with  all  of  these  values  ability  in 
English  expression  is  one  of  the  hardest  to  develop, 
and  must  be  constantly  before  the  teacher  and  the  class. 
We  must  learn  to  find  subjects.  Children  must  learn  that 
thousands  of  them  are  everywhere  they  go ;  they  must 
learn  to  recognize  and  develop  them.  Live  language 
teachers  are  stressing  this  feature  of  English  and  are 
realizing  that  it  is  one  of  the  central  problems.  The 
ability  to  use  correct  mechanical  English  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  it,  either  in  functional  value  or  in  diffi- 
culty of  attainment. 

3.  The  ability  to  organize  what  is  to  be  said  or  writ- 
ten is  a  third  vital  accomplishment  difficult  to  develop. 
After  fluency  is  assured,  organization  must  be  made  a 
constant  part  of  English  instruction.  •  Children  and 
adults  have  great  difficulty  in  collecting  their  scat- 
tered thoughts  and  in  joining  them  together  in  speech  or 
in  writing.  The  ability  to  organize  the  various  thought 
elements  pertaining  to  a  subject  so  that  proper  emphasis 
will  be  given  to  each  element,  so  that  sufficient  repetition 
is  given  every  important  thought,  and  so  that  all  will  be 
said  that  should  be  said,  and  said  when  it  should  be  said 
without  unnecessary  statements,  is  difficult  to  develop. 
Some  teachers  contend  that  children  in  the  grades  are 
not  mature  enough  to  be  instructed  in  this  feature  of 
speaking  and  writing.  It  must  be  understood  that  such 
work  will  have  to  be  given  to  children  on  their  level  of 
comprehension.  When  it  is  so  given,  grade  school  chil- 
dren respond  even  more  readily  than  college  and  uni- 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      233 

versity  students  who  have  not  been  taught  to  organize  in 
the  grades  or  in  high  school. 

Constant  Stress  of  the  Three  Foregoing  Elements  of 
Speech  and  Writing.  These  three  features  of  speaking 
and  writing  must  be  back  of  all  work  in  English  in  the 
elementary  school,  the  high  school,  and  the  university. 
They  are  the  fundamentals  of  English.  They  develop 
fluency  and  effectiveness  They  are  the  most  difficult 
features  to  teach.  Therefore,  they  should  be  stressed 
whenever  and  wherever  possible.  Teachers  in  the  past 
allowed  these  fundamentals  to  be  crowded  out  of  the 
course  of  study  by  the  mechanics  of  English,  or  even 
worse,  by  such  word  juggling  as  is  involved  in  diagram- 
ing, analyzing,  and  parsing.  Whatever  we  do  from  the 
mechanical  standpoint,  and  useful  mechanics  are  very 
essential,  we  must  not  neglect  the  larger  and  more 
fundamental  functions. 

Special  Difficulties.  The  mechanical  difficulties  which 
have  been  found  to  cause  the  most  trouble  are  given  here 
in  the  order  of  their  difficulty.  Only  the  useful  mechanics 
are  included.  They  should  be  introduced  early  in  the 
elementary  school  course  and  repeated  as  often  as  profit- 
able or  until  mastered.  Special  attention  should  be  given 
children  who  master  them  through  individual  efforts. 
Every  child  should  know  that  he  has  conquered  an 
enemy  worthy  of  his  efforts  when  he  has  overcome  one  of 
these  difficulties.  From  the  ten  or  twelve  studies  pre- 
viously referred  to  and  with  three  years'  comparative 
observation  of  eighth-grade  and  college  students  as  an 


234       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 


aid,  the  following  have  been  selected  as  the  mechanical 
"  demons  "  of  English. 

List  of  difficult  English  usages  in  order  of  difficulty : 

1.  Verbs:   (a)  Transitive   or  intransitive  —  lay,  lie,  sit, 
and  set  most  often  misused ;  learn  and  teach  important. 

(b)  Copulative  —  to   understand   that   a    pronoun 
used  in  the  predicate  is  nominative  (It  is  I). 

(c)  Tense  —  see,  do,   come,  give    greatest  trouble ; 
go,  run,  ring,  sing,  drink,  ask,  give,  write  are  among  the  most 
difficult.     About  fifty  irregular  verbs  should  be  used  in  drill. 

(d)  Correct  use  of  may  and  can  more  difficult  on 
account  of  greater  necessity  for  use  than  shall  and  will. 

(e)  Subjunctive    mood  —  should    be    taught    only 
in  the  specific  cases  where  it  gives  trouble.      Only  the  past 
and  present  of  the  verb  to  be  are  important. 

(/)  Infinitive,  to  illustrate  that  modifier  should 
not  separate  it.  (Not,  to  quietly  sit  down,  but,  to  sit  down 
quietly.) 

(g)  Number  —  disagreement  with  subject  quite 
common. 

2.  Syntactical    redundance    (use    of    superfluous    forms 
and  words  as,  where  are  you  at,  overuse  of  and,  etc.)  —  very 
common  error  and  constant  drill  and  attention  necessary  to 
overcome  it. 

3.  Pronouns  :  (a)  number  :  Everyone  open  his  book  (not, 
their  books),   etc. 

(b)  Case :  It  was  he,  I  saw  him,  etc. 

(c)  Gender,  especially  for  general  use  of  he. 

4.  Punctuation  —  (a)    Comma   in   series,   especially  be- 
fore and. 

Following    dependent    clause,    preceding   main 
clause,  other  uses  of  comma. 

(b)   Period,  question  mark,  semicolon,  and  colon. 


SELECTION   AND   EVALUATION   IN   ENGLISH      235 

5.  Nouns  —  (a)    Capitalization   of   proper   nouns. 

(6)    Collective  for  verb  agreement  and  agreement  of 
modifiers. 

(c)    Possessive  case  for  correct  written  forms. 

6.  Adjectives  —  (a)   Comparison  most  important  feature 
and  demands  a  great  deal  of  drill. 

(6)    Capitalization  of  proper  adjectives. 
(c)    Not   to   be  confused  with   personal   pronouns 
and  nouns  (center  for  central,  etc.). 

7.  Adverbs  —  to  prevent  their  use  for  adjectives  and  to 
prevent  the  use  of  adjective    for  adverbs  (good  for  well  most 
common).     The   comparison  of  adjectives   has   already  been 
given  as  very  important  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
comparison  of  adverbs. 

8 .  Prepositions — followed  by  the  ob j  ective  case  ;  pronouns 
afford  special  difficulty.     (He  said  it  to  John,  Henry,  and  me.) 

9.  Double    negatives  —  important    in    oral    usage    but 
rarely  mistaken  in  written  work. 

10.  In  any  analyzing,  diagraming,  or  parsing,  examples 
which  bring  out  functional  difficulties  should  always  be  used. 
Such  sentences  as  the  one  given  above,  "  He  said  it  to  John, 
Henry,  and  me,"  should  be  used  in  this  work.  If  this  is 
done,  drill  is  more  likely  to  help  usage,  for  it  will  throw  the 
difficult  elements  of  usage  into  the  foreground. 

No  Time  for  Technical  Grammar.  There  is  no  place 
in  the  curriculum  for  grammar  which  has  no  definite 
bearing  upon  spoken  or  written  usage.  Technical  gram- 
mar should  not  be  taught  in  the  elementary  school.  Its 
place  should  be  taken  by  "  Functional  English."  It  will 
take  all  the  time  we  have  to  teach  well  that  which  is  use- 
ful, and  the  mind  will  be  developed  just  as  well  by  work- 
ing hard  upon  useful  English  as  upon  useless  word  juggling. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SELECTION   IN  ARITHMETIC,   SPELLING,   AND 
WRITING 

Arithmetic 

Functional  Values.  Arithmetic  is  an  important  sub- 
ject but  it  has  not  always  been  taught  in  a  way  to  bring 
out  its  values.  Parts  that  are  not  important  have  often 
been  stressed  to  the  entire  neglect  of  parts  that  are  vital 
to  social  and  economic  needs.  Those  who  have  been 
trained  in  school  arithmetic  only  cannot  solve  the  prob- 
lems of  life.  This  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have 
received  too  little  training  in  the  solution  of  problems, 
but  that  the  problems  they  solved  were  not  the  type 
which  furnished  exercise  in  the  arithmetical  knowledge 
that  is  useful  in  life.  The  following  phases  of  arithmetic 
have  been  discovered  by  investigators  to  be  processes 
which  must  be  stressed  in  order  to  make  this  "  practical  " 
subject  truly  practical : 

1.  Accurate  and  fairly  rapid  ability  to  add,  divide, 
multiply,  and  subtract.  The  old  school  taught  these 
fundamentals  in  a  way  that  did  not  secure  accuracy  and 
speed  in  their  use.  In  many  places  they  were  so  taught 
that  a  child  would  have  to  begin  at  the  beginning  of  a 
table  or  at  the  beginning  of  a  song  and  repeat  all  that 

236 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     237 

came  before  the  combination  he  wanted  to  use.  Another 
failing  was  that  the  multiplication  tables,  long  division, 
etc.,  were  taught  in  specified  grades  and  learned  fairly 
well  there,  but  they  were  rarely  referred  to  again  aside 
from  chance  use  in  percentage,  interest,  or  mensura- 
tion. The  modern  way  is  to  stress  these  fundamentals 
constantly,  to  require  children  to  learn  them  not  only  in 
tables  but  each  combination  separately,  and  to  insist 
upon  accurate  and  fairly  rapid  solution  of  problems  in- 
volving them.  Throughout  all  the  grades  short  drill 
periods  in  them  should  be  given. 

2.  Business  transactions.  Everyone  must  engage  in 
business.  If  money  is  saved,  it  should  be  invested.  We 
must  all  buy  and  sell.  Almost  everybody  should  keep 
accounts.  Most  men  come  in  contact  with  mortgages, 
and  many  of  them  could  have  been  saved  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  by  a  small  amount  of  vital  instruction  concern- 
ing them.  Life  insurance  is  a  problem  which  everyone 
must  face.  If  he  is  entirely  ignorant  of  it,  he  is  bound  to 
be  imposed  upon  by  unscrupulous  agents.  In  fact,  our 
business  and  economic  relations  with  other  persons, 
especially  in  this  growing  commercial  nation  of  ours, 
demand  that  we  greatly  increase  the  teaching  of  practical 
commercial  mathematics,  and  that  we  decrease  the  old- 
fashioned  formal  exercise  type  of  work  in  this  important 
subject.  The  following  topics  are  being  called  for  by 
business  men.1 

1 16th  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of 
Education. 


238       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Saving  and  loaning  money. 

Mortgages. 

Modern  banking  methods. 

Building  and  loan  associations. 

Keeping  accounts. 

Investing  money. 

Bonds  as  investments. 

Real  estate  as  investment. 

Marks  of  a  good  investment. 

Taxes,  levies,  public  expenditures. 

Profits  in  different  lines  of  business. 

Life  insurance  as  protection  and  investment. 

Partial  payments  (buying  on  installment  plan). 

Any  one  of  these  topics  is  large  enough  to  take  up  a 
school  year,  and  the  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when 
they  will  be  closely  studied  in  high  schools  in  place  of  a 
great  deal  of  the  mathematics  which  is  necessary  only  to 
such  occupations  as  surveying  and  engineering,  callings 
which  are  not  likely  to  be  engaged  in  by  many.  As  stated, 
we  must  all  engage  in  business,  and  the  better  we  are 
equipped  in  the  fundamentals  of  it,  the  more  successful 
we  will  be  in  managing  our  own  affairs.  Wilson  has 
stated  that  the  American  people  lose  over  $60,000,000 
a  year  in  bad  investments.  The  enormous  amount  of 
paiii  and  suffering  which  must  follow  the  loss  of  small 
savings  by  those  who  have  had  no  training  in  business 
and  are  ignorant  of  even  the  fundamental  truths  could 
be  partially  avoided  by  the  proper  teaching  of  these  sub- 
jects in  school.  To  teach  them  in  a  vital  and  functional 
way,  however,  will  necessitate  the  reeducation  of  our 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     239 

teaching  force.  It  is  a  sad  truth,  but  teachers  do  not 
know  the  important  simple  facts  about  the  above  topics. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  teacher  to  stress  concrete  business 
transactions  as  much  as  possible  no  matter  what  his 
course  of  study  may  call  for. 

In  teaching  these  subjects  the  ability  to  solve  long 
and  difficult  problems  is  not  so  important  as  the  under- 
standing of  their  application  and  the  ability  to  solve 
the  ordinary  business  problems  of  everyday  life.  A 
superintendent  of  one  of  our  large  cities  gave  an  oppor- 
tunity to  his  son,  who  was  in  the  fifth  grade,  to  apply  his 
mathematics  to  the  purchase  of  his  own  shoes.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  boy  should  have  $14.00  per  year  (the 
amount  he  had  asked  for)  to  buy  shoes.  Although  he 
was  good  in  regular  school  arithmetic,  his  father  noted 
that  when  he  needed  to  solve  the  little  problems  con- 
nected with  the  purchase  of  shoe  strings  and  the  mending 
of  shoes,  he  always  went  to  his  mother  for  help.  A 
teacher  can  help  the  child  in  making  this  transition  from 
school  arithmetic  to  that  of  life  by  giving  life  problems 
along  with  those  taken  from  the  text.  This  has  been  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapter  on  "  The  Problem  Method." 

3.  The  ability  to  add,  divide,  multiply,  and  subtract 
common  fractions.     The  common  fractions   are  almost 
always  small.     Very  little  work  should  be  done  with  large 
fractions. 

4.  An  understanding  of  decimals.     In  English-speak- 
ing countries  the  use  of  decimals  is  almost  entirely  con- 
fined to  transactions  involving  money.     In   connection 


240      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

with  their  work  in  decimals  the  children  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  grades  should  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  mak- 
ing change.  To  make  change  is  a  common  necessity, 
and  it  is  surprising  how  awkward  and  incapable  even 
college  students  are  in  doing  it.  Somewhere  in  the 
grades  a  definite  course  involving  practice  with  sterilized 
money  should  be  given.  Real  money  is  better  than  a 
substitute. 

5.  Mensuration.     The   ability  to  solve  problems   in- 
volving the  common  linear,  square,  and  volume  measures 
is  quite  useful.     The  long  explanations  and  difficult  prob- 
lems on  spherical  surfaces  and  volumes  should  be  dis- 
carded.    How  to  find  the  area  of  a  circle  should  be  the 
limit  in  circular  mensuration. 

6.  Simple  tables  of  weights  and  measures  and  their 
use  in  problems.     If  the  foregoing  are  taught  well,  no 
time  will  be  left  for  non-functional  work,  such  as  long 
problems  involving  greatest  common  divisor,  least  com- 
mon multiple,   long   problems  in  large  fractions,    com- 
plex and  compound  fractions,  cases  in  percentage  (use 
equation  method),  cube  root,  etc.     Long  peculiar  exam- 
ples of  the  puzzle  type  which  do  not  develop  accuracy  or 
the  ability  to  solve  concrete  problems  should  be  omitted. 

The  functional  method  stresses  accuracy,  a  few  prob- 
lems well  solved,  constant  attention  by  the  child  to  his 
own  difficulties,  and  drill  upon  the  special  useful  arithmetic 
features  in  which  the  children  are  lacking.  Then,  if 
time  is  left,  it  should  be  given  to  enlarging  the  work  in 
business  arithmetic  as  outlined  under  2. 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     241 

The  Disciplinary  Value  of  Mathematics.  Mathematics, 
more  than  any  other  subject,  has  been  advocated  for  its 
disciplinary  value.  It  is  impossible  to  decide  from  ex- 
perimental evidence  whether  any  subject  will  train  gen- 
eral powers  or  develop  abilities  transferable  to  other 
subjects.  In  teaching  from  the  functional  standpoint 
we  need  not  worry  about  securing  discipline,  for  if  there 
is  such  a  value  in  mathematics,  it  will  be  greater  in  the 
useful  portions  than  in  the  useless.  If  we  are  able  to 
train  the  power  of  sustained  attention,  the  ability  to 
think  logically,  etc.,  by  requiring  the  child  to  solve  use- 
less problems,  we  can,  of  course,  achieve  the  same  end  in 
a  better  way  by  using  only  useful  materials.  Without 
doubt,  methods  which  require  concentration,  initiative, 
and  independence  of  children  should  be  used.  They 
should  constantly  solve  problems  which  do  not  "  come 
out  even,"  and  which  have  no  ready-made  answers  to 
tell  them  whether  the  work  is  right.  They  should  learn 
to  rely  upon  themselves  and  to  be  fairly  sure  that  they  are 
correct  in  their  practice  problems ;  otherwise  they  never 
can  trust  their  calculations  when  they  try  to  use  their 
arithmetic  in  life. 

Selection  of  Arithmetic  Based  upon  the  Growth  of 
Children.  More  of  purely  memory  work  than  is  or- 
dinarily done  should  be  given  in  the  two  lower  grades. 
In  reacting  from  the  overconfining  methods  of  the  tra- 
ditional school  many  teachers  have  almost  entirely 
neglected  arithmetic  in  the  first  and  second  grades. 
The  result  has  been  that  in  the  third  and  fourth  grades 


242      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

children  are  so  overburdened  with  drill  that  they  learn 
to  hate  it.  This  difficulty  is  overcome  by  teaching  the 
memory  phases  in  an  interesting  way  in  the  two  lower 
grades.  During  the  second  year  it  is  possible  to  teach 
in  fifteen  minutes  a  day  all  the  addition  combinations  to 
twenty,  the  multiplication  tables,  and  subtraction.  This 
would  be  too  much  to  require  since  there  are  always  a 
few  children  in  each  grade  whose  ability  to  memorize 
has  not  developed.  Therefore,  just  how  much  shall  be 
taught  will  depend  upon  the  class.  Too  often  the  child's 
interest  in  learning  useful  arithmetical  facts  is  not  taken 
advantage  of  in  the  lower  grades.  He  is  given  games  to 
play  until  he  gets  into  the  third  grade.  Then,  after 
being  merely  played  with  for  two  years,  he  is  confronted 
with  a  heavy  program.  Children  like  to  learn  to  add, 
multiply,  and  subtract  in  the  first  grade.  Under  wise 
teaching,  they  will  be  given  enough  such  work  to  en- 
courage them.  As  explained  in  a  previous  chapter,  there 
are  many  advantages  in  learning  the  useful  fundamentals 
as  early  in  the  curriculum  as  possible.  Little  need  be 
added  to  the  discussion  of  this  phase  of  selection  of  arith- 
metic. If  the  mechanics  are  mastered  in  the  lower 
grades,  plenty  of  time  will  be  left  for  the  development  of 
the  functional  and  logical  applications  in  the  upper 
grades. 

Selection  of  Especially  Difficult  Features  of  Arithmetic. 
The  special  difficulties  in  arithmetic  have  not  been  studied 
as  much  as  have  those  in  oral  and  written  English.  How- 
ever, they  seem  to  exist,  and  by  overcoming  them  the 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     243 

child  is  often  able  to  master  the  subject  in  a  way  that 
would  have  been  impossible  under  old-style  general  in- 
struction. A  preliminary  study  of  the  phases  of  arith- 
metic which  need  special  stress  is  given  below : 

1.  Accuracy.  After  constantly  studying  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  the  causes  of  mistakes  in  the  solution  of 
problems  by  children,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  inaccuracy  in  the  phases  of  the  work  which  they 
are  supposed  to  know  is  the  great  difficulty.  They  soon 
acquire  methods  of  solution,  and  the  ordinary  teacher 
rarely  fails  to  correct  errors  resulting  from  mistakes  in 
reading  problems.  But  the  small  mistakes  in  addition, 
division,  multiplication,  and  subtraction  with  integers, 
fractions,  and  decimals  lie  at  the  base  of  the  majority 
of  incorrect  solutions.  It  must  be  admitted  that  accu- 
racy has  not  been  stressed  and  fought  for  as  it  should 
have  been  by  teachers  in  the  past,1  and  those  of  to-day 
will  have  to  do  more  than  they  are  doing  in  order  to 
bring  about  habits  of  work  and  of  thinking  which  will 
eliminate  the  "  little  "  mistakes  so  ruinous  to  any  form 
of  calculation.  Accuracy  will  not  come  with  mere  drill 
or  practice.  The  child  may  be  confirmed  in  making  his 
mistakes  by  constantly  repeating  them  in  drill. 

The  following  means  are  being  employed  to  secure 
accuracy : 

(a)  From  the  very  beginning  of  work  in  arithmetic  the 
child  is  told  that  his  work  will  be  worthless  if  he  makes 

1  Accuracy  must  not  be  confused  with  old-fashioned  "  thoroughness  " 
which  was  not  selective  and  was  usually  a  waste  of  time. 


244       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

mistakes  in  the  parts  of  it  which  he  is  supposed  to  have 
mastered.  No  work  should  be  credited  which  contains 
such  mistakes.  Inaccuracy  usually  results  from  lack  of 
attention  at  a  time  when  such  inattention  is  inexcusable 
if  the  assignment  is  worth  anything.  Teachers  too  often 
grade  a  paper  two  thirds  correct  when  the  only  reason 
the  result  is  wrong  is  that  the  child  was  not  careful  with 
an  easy  addition,  or  something  as  simple.  If  from  the 
first  lesson  he  is  taught  that  arithmetic  is  a  science  which 
is  worthless  without  accuracy,  he  is  likely  to  form  habits 
in  accordance  with  the  requirements. 

(6)  Fewer  problems  should  be  assigned  and  more  atten- 
tion should  be  given  by  the  teacher  to  the  work  of  the  chil- 
dren. Too  often  long  assignments  are  given,  and  the 
teacher  does  not  have  time  to  see  that  accuracy  is  made 
the  fundamental  feature  of  the  assignment.  The  chil- 
dren solve  their  problems  in  a  lazy  fashion  and  are 
more  likely  to  be  injured  than  helped  by  the  work. 
Many  times  the  work  is  not  done  at  all,  and  the 
child  forms  the  habit  of  avoiding  work  by  discovering 
that  requirements  need  not  be  lived  up  to.  In  this 
respect  American  teachers  may  learn  a  lesson  from 
those  in  France,  where  great  pains  are  taken  to  see  that 
each  individual  child  avoids  making  mistakes.  They 
explain  that  it  is  better  to  prevent  mistakes  than  cor- 
rect them.  In  any  case  the  practice  of  making  assign- 
ments which  the  teacher  is  unable  to  follow  up  must  be 
avoided,  and  no  more  work  in  arithmetic  should  be 
assigned  than  can  properly  be  taken  care  of.  This  is 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     245 

more  necessary  in  a  subject  which  is  valuable  only  for 
its  exactness  than  in  one  where  the  child's  versatility  may 
be  exercised. 

Extreme  care,  therefore,  should  be  exercised  in  making 
assignments  and  in  dealing  with  the  work  of  the  children 
after  they  have  brought  their  papers  to  class.  A  good 
method  is  to  return  them  to  the  children  and  to  require 
that  they  study  and  drill  upon  their  mistakes.  Follow- 
ing this,  the  paper  is  again  returned  to  the  teacher,  who 
files  it  as  a  concrete  record.  At  the  end  of  the  month 
these  papers  are  sent  home  along  with  the  report  cards. 
A  child  should  never  be  permitted  to  crumple  his  paper 
and  toss  it  into  the  waste  basket  before  he  has  made  a 
careful  study  of  his  mistakes.  Both  parents  and  children 
soon  learn  to  expect  the  monthly  budget  of  corrected 
papers,  and  they  like  them  better  than  they  do  the  re- 
port cards.  In  this  way  every  problem  that  the  child 
solves  is  given  due  attention,  and  as  a  result  of  his  feel- 
ing the  greater  importance  of  his  practice  efforts,  the 
accuracy  of  such  work  is  bound  to  increase. 

(c)  Arithmetics  with  ready-made  answers  should  be 
discarded.  A  set  of  answers  for  a  teacher  who  is  over- 
worked may  be  worth  while,  for  by  using  them  he  can 
tell  whether  or  not  to  look  for  mistakes  in  a  problem  and 
may  save  a  great  deal  of  time  in  this  way.  But  these 
answers  are  the  cause  of  inaccuracy  and  dependence  on 
the  part  of  the  children.  When  his  answer  is  not  right, 
the  child  may  keep  working  until  it  is.  This  allows 
him  to  develop  a  trial  and  error  method  of  procedure. 


246      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

After  working  several  years  in  this  way  he  is  never  satis- 
fied with  his  result  unless  it  is  confirmed  by  an  "  answer." 
When  he  has  reached  this  stage  in  his  mathematical  edu- 
cation, he  is  almost  worthless  so  far  as  any  life  uses  of  the 
subject  are  concerned.  Mechanics,  contractors,  business 
men,  and  engineers  are  in  accord  with  this  conclusion. 
Children  must  be  taught  to  depend  upon  their  own 
answers. 

2.  Common    Fractions.     Next    to    accuracy    in    the 
fundamental    processes    common    fractions    cause    more 
trouble  than   any   other  phase  of  arithmetic.     This   is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  our  arithmetic  instruction 
has  been  too  artificial.     The  examples  in  the  texts  usually 
"  come  out  even."     Those  in  life 'rarely  do.     Thus,  after 
six  or  eight  years'  training  in  solving  problems  which  are 
made  so  that  the  common  fraction  may  be  avoided,  it  is 
little  wonder  that  children  and  even  adults  have  trouble. 
The  remedy  is  to  put  problems  which  contain  common 
fractions  in  every  grade  above  the  one  in  which  fractions 
are  introduced.     The  fraction  is  difficult  because  it  has 
really  become  uncommon  in  the  exercises  of  the  school, 
but  still  quite  common  in  life.     As  mentioned,  only  the 
fractions   with  small    denominators    need    be   bothered 
with  for  the  others  have  little  functional  value. 

3.  Decimals.     These  cause  much  trouble  for  the  same 
reason  that  fractions  do.     They  are  taught  in  one  grade 
and  are  not  reviewed.     A  child  in  the  eighth  grade  who 
took  up  decimals  in  the  sixth  is  likely  to  have  forgotten 
how  to  point  off,  especially  in  division  problems.     The 


SELECTION    IN   ARITHMETIC   AND    SPELLING     247 

only  way  to  avoid  this  difficulty  is  to  make  more  use  of 
them. 

4.  Constant  drill  in  every  grade  in  all  the  fundamentals. 
It  is  not  enough  to  teach  a  child  long  division  in  the  fourth 
grade,  fractions  in  the  fifth,  decimals  in  the  sixth,  etc., 
and  then  expect  the  regular  work  to  take  care  of  the 
exercise  he  needs  in  these  subjects.  A  short  period  of 
drill  (from  three  to  eight  minutes)  should  be  given  daily 
in  all  the  functional  fundamental  operations  until  they 
have  become  second  nature.  This  drill  period  will  not 
take  the  place  of  the  use  of  these  fundamentals  in  the 
solution  of  problems,  but  it  has  been  found  very  useful 
when  treated  as  a  supplement  to  such  work. 

Spelling 

The  Functional  Value  of  Spelling.  Spelling  is  valuable 
chiefly  for  conventional  reasons.  Few  persons  misspell 
so  badly  that  those  who  read  cannot  understand  what 
they  have  written.  He  who  does  not  spell  correctly, 
however,  will  find  difficulty  in  securing  positions  through 
correspondence,  and  is  likely  to  be  rated  as  poorly  trained 
by  certain  classes  of  society.  The  handicap  caused  by 
inability  to  spell  is  out  of  proportion  to  the  actual  need 
for  the  ability,  but  few  will  need  to  undergo  such  a  handi- 
cap if  school  authorities  will  profit  by  the  knowledge 
developed  by  modern  investigations  of  the  teaching  of 
spelling. 

Early  Development  of  Spelling  Consciousness.  The 
child  should  learn  to  spell  as  early  in  life  as  it  is  possible. 


248       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

He  must  develop  a  spelling  consciousness  early  in  the  grades 
and  learn  to  give  attention  to  peculiar  words  and  to  take 
pride  in  correct  spelling  in  all  his  writing.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  teach  the  child  to  spell  if  his  attention  to  the 
words  he  learns  goes  no  farther  than  the  spelling  lesson. 
He  should  be  interested  in  learning  to  spell  difficult 
words  whenever  he  needs  to  use  them. 

This  spelling  consciousness  and  interest  in  learning  to 
spell  are  fundamental  in  the  development  of  spelling  abil- 
ity. Therefore,  just  as  good  English  should  be  made  a 
central  feature  of  every  lesson,  correct  spelling  should  be 
taught  in  all  written  work.  Not  until  the  child  has  ac- 
quired the  habit  of  being  careful  to  spell  correctly  when- 
ever he  writes  is  his  spelling  ability  assured.  It  is  im- 
possible to  teach  him  to  spell  all  the  words  he  is  likely  to 
write  in  life,  but  the  spelling  consciousness  will  cause  him 
to  master  new  words  and  to  use  the  dictionary  in  spelling 
those  of  which  he  is  doubtful. 

The  Poor  Speller  Is  the  One  Who  Needs  Teaching. 
Too  much  was  made  of  good  spelling  and  too  little  atten- 
tion given  to  bad  spelling  by  teachers  in  the  past.  Most 
of  the  methods  used  tended  to  help  those  who  did  not 
need  help,  and  little  or  nothing  was  done  for  those  who 
were  poor  spellers.  The  old  method  of  "  spelling  down  "  al- 
lowed good  spellers  to  perform  while  poor  spellers  listened 
to  them.  The  method  of  calling  attention  to  the  person 
whose  record  continued  to  be  100  per  cent  and  ignoring 
those  who  did  not  get  100  per  cent  produced  like  results. 
Good  spellers  usually  inherit  their  abilities.  It  is  not  a 


SELECTION   IN  ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     249 

mark  of  good  teaching  to  have  a  record  on  the  blackboard 
showing  that  one  or  two  children  in  a  room  have  been 
perfect  in  spelling  throughout  the  year. 

After  the  spelling  consciousness  has  been  formed,  the 
teaching  of  spelling  should  focus  upon  those  who  find  diffi- 
culty. The  others  are  likely  to  learn  to  spell  no  matter  how 
they  are  taught.  This  subject  does  not  need  to  be  taught 
to  all  children  above  the  sixth  grade.  In  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  and  even  in  high  school  an  intensive  cam- 
paign should  be  carried  on  in  order'  to  help  the  poor 
spellers.  By  evaluating  our  materials  and  methods  and 
by  making  them  conform  to  the  needs  of  the  individuals 
who  are  to  be  taught,  we  can  do  a  great  deal  for  poor 
spellers  even  after  they  have  entered  college.  Merely 
to  pronounce  words  which  are  to  be  written  in  vertical 
columns  will  not  help  these  persons. 

Methods  of  Studying  and  Learning.  There  has  been 
great  advancement  during  the  last  decade  in  our  knowl- 
edge of  how  children  learn.  We  no  longer  assign  a  long 
list  of  words  to  be  learned,  require  that  they  be  written 
in  a  spelling  book,  and  then  never  refer  to  them  again. 
The  following  points  are  being  stressed  in  spelling  method- 
ology to-day : 

1.  Not  more  than  two  or  three  new  words  should  be 
given  each  day.     These  should  be  accompanied  by  several 
review  words  taken  from  previous  assignments. 

2.  The  method  of  studying  difficult  useful  words  and 
writing  them  in  vertical  columns  is  worth  retaining.     It 
has  been  claimed  that  ability  to  spell  gained  in  this  way 


250      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

does  not  transfer  to  the  use  of  these  words  in  writing  com- 
positions and  letters.  However,  investigations  point  to 
transfer  of  from  eighty-five  to  ninety  per  cent.  Cornman, 
who  first  studied  the  subject,  concluded  that  there  is 
little  if  any  transfer  from  column  to  dictation  work. 
Wallin  contradicted  this  statement  and  went  to  the  op- 
posite extreme.  Cook  and  O'Shea  tend  to  confirm  the 
conclusions  of  Wallin.  Tidyman  and  Brown  found  con- 
siderable transfer  but  not  so  much  as  Wallin  or  Cook  and 
O'Shea.  It  is  important  to  all  such  conclusions  that  the 
investigators  discover  how  many  of  the  words  they  teach 
are  already  known  by  the  children.  When  Tidyman  and 
Brown  did  this,  they  found  about  twelve  per  cent  loss. 
This  means,  therefore,  that  of  every  eight  words  learned 
in  vertical  columns,  seven  will  be  spelled  correctly  in 
dictation.1 

3 .  Constant  use  sho  uld  be  made  of  the  words  learned  and 
words  which  are  used  by  children  should  be  selected  for  their 
spelling  lessons.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  learn  to  spell  words 
whose  meanings  we  do  not  understand.  The  teacher  must 
insist  that  the  child  be  responsible  for  his  spelling  in  all 
his  writing,  and  that  he  attempt  difficult  words  in  this 
writing.  Often  the  child  does  not  use  the  word  he  wants 
because  he  is  afraid  of  spelling  it  incorrectly.  Some 
definite  means  should  be  employed  to  stop  such  a  prac- 
tice ;  it  is  more  common  than  one  not  closely  connected 
with  the  work  of  children  would  imagine.  The  develop- 
ment of  a  good  writing  vocabulary  is  stimulated  in  chil«- 
1  See  Elementary  School  Journ^,  Dec.  .191.7. 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     251 

dren  by  giving  attention  to  the  words  they  use,  giving 
better  grades  for  wide  usage,  and  recognizing  in  regular 
class  periods  individual  efforts  in  this  direction.  Spell- 
ing is  only  a  tool,  and  the  child  should  be  impressed 
constantly  with  the  idea  that  it  is  better  to  use  a  good 
word,  even  though  he  misspell  it,  than  to  substitute  an 
unsatisfactory  easily  spelled  one  for  it. 

4.  In  their  study   of  words  the   children   should  be 
taught  to  concentrate  upon  peculiarities  rather  than  to  at- 
tempt to  learn  by  many  repetitions.     The  old  method  of 
repeating  each  word  twenty  or  thirty  times  orally  or  in 
writing  is  being  discarded. 

5.  For    most    children    words    should    be    visualized. 
This  may  be  accomplished  by  exposing  them  on  flash- 
cards  to  the  class,  or  by  writing  them  on  the  blackboard. 
The  visual  exposure  is  followed  by  oral  pronunciation. 
The  word  is  then  removed  from  the  child's  sight  and 
he  writes  it  from  the  visual-auditory  imagery  which  he 
has.     This  gives  him  a  large  visual  picture  of  the  word 
accompanied  by  both  auditory  and  motor  impressions. 
In  order  to  write  it  correctly  after  a  momentary  exposure, 
he  must  concentrate  upon  its  peculiarities.     This  insures 
attention  with  all  the  mental  powers.     The  old  repetition 
method  became  a  sort  of  automatic  process  after  a  few 
words  had  been  learned  by  it,  and  the  child  might  repeat 
the  letters  in  a  word  a  hundred  times  and  not  remember 
them  any  better  for  it. 

Some  General  Difficulties.     Two  special  methods  of 
studying  words  are^(l)  grouping  words  which  fall  under 


252       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

specific  rules,  and  (2)  studying  individual  words  which 
are  difficult  owing  to  peculiarities  of  spelling. 

Under  (l)  the  largest  group  is  the  phonetic.  Th< 
majority  of  the  words  that  are  commonly  written  are 
spelled  just  as  they  sound.  The  first  step  in  learning 
to  spell,  therefore,  is  the  mastery  of  letter  sounds  anc 
their  application  in  spelling.  Following  this,  every  wore 
which  is  not  spelled  as  it  sounds  will  call  attention  to 
itself  because  it  is  different  from  the  majority  of  words 
If  a  good  grounding  in  phonics  is  not  accomplishec 
early  in  the  school  course,  spelling  is  bound  to  be  diffi- 
cult, for  the  child  will  have  nothing  to  go  by  except  his 
memory  of  individual  words.  The  common  method  o 
grouping  words  into  families  is  not  very  helpful.  The 
child  must  have  a  wide  experience  in  sounding  and  spell- 
ing phonetic  words  which  are  not  related  or  grouped 
The  fundamental  feature  of  this  work  should  be  to  de- 
velop the  ability  to  spell  by  using  the  letter  sounds  anc 
to  learn  as  early  as  possible  the  words  which  are  no  I 
spelled  as  they  sound.  The  large  phonetic  groups  o 
words  are  the  only  ones  that  are  usually  taught  through 
the  principles  involved: 

A  Few  Rules  May  Help  Poor  Spellers.  Poor  spellers 
especially  poor  visualizers,  should  be  given  every  rule 
that  is  likely  to  help  them.  Many  of  the  so-callec 
"  rules  of  orthography  "  have  so  many  exceptions  and 
are  so  long  that  they  are  more  confusing  than  helpful. 
Adults  who  are  naturally  poor  spellers,  and  who  have 
overcome  to  a  certain  extent  their  incapacities  in  .this 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     253 


field,  testify  that  certain  rules  have  been  quite  help- 
ful to  them.  The  rules  which  follow  are  given  in  the 
order  of  their  importance  based  upon  the  use  made  of 
them  by  several  hundred  college  students.  These  rules 
are  usually  remembered  by  catch  words  rather  than  in 
sentences.  They  are  given  here  in  the  forms  in  which 
they  are  most  often  used. 

1.  Alice  (i  follows  I  and  e  follows  c),  a  word  used  by 
a  great  many  persons  in  order  to  remember  that  when 
e  and  i  form  a  digraph  having  the  sound  of  long  e,  the 
e  precedes  the  i  after  c  and  s.     In  most  other  cases  the 
i  precedes  (receive,  believe,  retrieve,  etc.). 

2.  Coming,  used  to  remember  that  when  a  word  ending 
in  silent  e  takes  a  suffix  beginning  with  a  vowel  the  e  is 
generally  dropped.     (Exceptions :    words  ending  in  soft 
c  and  g  retain  the   e  when   able   is   added,  —  traceable, 
manageable,    etc.)      Coming   or    a    similar   word    is    also 
helpful  to  many  in  keeping  in  mind  that  when  such  a 
word  has  a  final  e,  the  consonant  is  not  doubled  before 
a  suffix. 

3.  When  a  syllable  beginning  with  a  consonant  is  added 
to  a  word  ending  in  e,  the  e  is  retained  with  the  exception 
of  such  words  as  —  duly,  truly,  awful,  judgment,  abridg- 
ment, acknowledgment,  and  argument. 

4.  Lying  or  dying,  used  to  remember  that  words  end- 
ing in  ie  change  the  ie  to  y  when  a  syllable  beginning 
with  i  is  added. 

5.  Altogether,  used  to  help  remember  that  compounds  of 
all  usually  drop  the  final  I.     The  poor  speller  must  also 


254       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

learn  that  other  compounds  of  English  words  usually 
retain  the  word  in  full.  The  exceptions  like  joyful,  fulfill, 
pastime,  until,  and  wherever,  must  be  memorized. 

Almost  Everyone  Uses  Rules.  Three  weeks'  drill 
on  these  five  rules  given  to  a  poor  speller  in  the 
eighth  grade  improved  his  spelling  fifty  per  cent.  A 
study  of  the  different  ways  poor  spellers  strive  to 
spell  correctly  will  convince  anyone  of  the  necessity  of 
a  few  rules  such  as  the  above.  However,  they  should 
be  few  and  learned  concretely  from  words.  These  will 
not  insure  accurate  spelling ;  they  will  merely  increase 
the  ability  to  spell.  As  a  rule  the  poor  speller  constructs 
rules  for  himself  from  his  word  experiences.  These  are 
very  likely  to  be  incorrect  and  have  more  exceptions  than 
words  to  which  they  apply.  One  college  student  re- 
ported that  he  had  formulated  for  himself  rule  3 
given  above,  but  that  he  did  not  know  that  there  were 
any  exceptions.  He  was  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
on  one  occasion  by  applying  his  rule  and  at  that  time 
learned  of  the  exceptions.  Those  who  insist  on  ignoring 
all  rules  and  in  teaching  by  special  individual  words 
cannot  escape  from  the  fact  that  most  persons  are  using 
rules  no  matter  how  they  were  taught,  and  that  the  ma- 
jority of  the  rules  used  are  incorrect  and  misleading,  for 
they  are  made  up  of  a  few  striking  experiences  of  the 
person  who  uses  them. 

Some  General  Difficulties.  Prefixes  and  suffixes 
cause  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  Consider  for  example 
the  prefix  mis  :  when  the  poor  speller  learns  that  there 


SELECTION   IN  ARITHMETIC  AND   SPELLING     255 

is  only  one  s  in  this  prefix  and  that  the  s  is  doubled 
only  when  the  root  word  begins  with  s,  the  whole  diffi- 
culty with  words  beginning  with  mis  is  overcome. 
The  doubling  of  consonants  is  another  great  difficulty. 
Some  reference  has  been  made  to  this  in  the  above 
rules,  but  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  rules  which  are 
helpful  in  this  case.  It  is  well  for  the  poor  speller  to 
learn  that  monosyllables  usually  double  /,  I,  and  s  when 
at  the  end  of  the  word.  Other  letters  are  not  doubled 
unless  for  special  reasons.  The  exceptions,  clef,  as, 
has,  is,  his,  us,  of,  if,  gas,  yes,  thus,  was,  are  common  words 
and  are  usually  learned  through  association.  If  any 
rule  is  taught,  the  exceptions  to  it  should  be  memorized. 
A  university  professor  reports  that  he  must  constantly 
look  up  small  words  such  as  bug  and  gas  to  find  whether 
or  not  to  double  the  final  consonant.  He  found  this  rule 
quite  helpful.  This  man,  it  must  be  understood,  was  a 
poor  speller.  He  could  not  remember  individual  words. 
As  previously  stated,  it  is  for  just  such  persons  that 
spelling  is  taught.  They  cannot  be  taught  to  remember 
how  to  spell  all  the  words  in  the  dictionary.  They  must 
be  taught  phonics,  a  few  useful  rules,  and  the  common 
difficult  words,  and  this  must  be  followed  by  as  wide  an 
association  with  common  words  in  writing  the  English 
language  as  is  practicable.  A  poor  speller  who  does 
little  writing  will  find  it  almost  impossible  to  become  a 
good  speller. 

The  rules  and  special  difficulties  which  are  given  above 
are  only  illustrative  of  a  type  of  study  which  must  be 


256      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

made  before  we  will  be  able  to  help  the  poor  speller 
much  as  we  should.  When  the  teacher  knows  j 
wherein  the  child  who  makes  mistakes  is  weak,  he  cai 
help  him  in  an  intelligent  way.  Every  poor  speller  shoul< 
be  made  the  subject  of  special  study.  This  is  not  dim- 
cult.  The  child  is  usually  willing  to  cooperate.  Th< 
peculiar  method  he  uses  to  overcome  the  difficulties  hi 
meets,  and  a  record  of  his  type  mistakes  will  give  tl 
teacher  a  cue  as  to  how  to  help  him. 

The  Selection  of  Special  Words  to  Teach.  There 
have  been  a  number  of  careful  studies  of  vocabularies, 
and  lists  of  words  have  been  made  which  have  been 
quite  helpful  to  the  teaching  of  spelling.1  No  one  who  is 
acquainted  with  advancement  along  this  line  still  clings 
to  the  old  method  of  teaching  words  regardless  of  their 
difficulty  or  the  likelihood  of  their  use. 

With  the  exception  of  the  "  hundred  spelling  demons  " 
selected  by  Jones,  none  of  the  compilers  have  selected 
lists  which  should  be  taught  because  of  the  special  dif- 
ficulties of  the  words.  The  problem  of  the  usefulness  of 

1  Eldridge,  R.  C.     Six  Thousand  Common  English  Words. 

Ayres,  L.  P.  Spelling  Vocabularies  of  Personal  and  Business  Letters. 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  N.  Y.  1913. 

Jones,  W.  F.  Concrete  Investigations  of  the  Material  of  English  Spell- 
ing, U.  of  S.  D.  Vermillion. 

Cook,  W.  A.,  and  O'Shea,  M.  V.  The  Child  and  His  Spelling,  Bobbs- 
Merrill,  1914. 

Studies  have  also  been  made  by  Studley  and  Ware,  a  list  made  at  Johns- 
town, Penn.,  and  another  by  W.  E.  Chancellor.  From  the  above  lists 
Pryor  compiled  one  for  the  elementary  grades.  This  is  found  in  the 
16th  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Educa- 
tion, 1917,  86-110. 


SELECTION   IN  ARITHMETIC  AND   SPELLING     257 

words  has  been  fairly  well  solved.  But  it  is  not  neces- 
sary or  possible  to  teach  with  the  same  emphasis  all  the 
words  a  child  is  likely  to  use.  Special  words  which  he  is 
likely  to  find  difficult  must  be  taught  and  constantly 
reviewed.  Words  giving  trouble  to  children  in  the 
grades,  especially  eighth  graders  who  were  ready  to  enter 
high  school,  to  college  students,  and  to  poor  adult  spellers 
have  been  selected  from  the  Ayres,  Jones,  and  Pryor  lists 
for  the  list  which  follows.  Common  words  in  children's 
vocabularies  are  mostly  learned  by  constant  association 
with  them.  The  adult  is  likely  to  have  little  difficulty  with 
most  of  them.  The  minimum  essential  list  of  Pryor  con- 
tains many  words  which  are  not  difficult  for  any  child  and 
may  be  taught  by  usage.  It  is  necessary  to  base  the  list 
selected  for  stress  upon  the  difficulties  of  children  who 
are  finishing  the  grades,  college  students,  and  poor  adult 
spellers  in  order  to  find  those  words  which  are  not  likely 
to  be  learned  by  association  and  usage.  This  list  makes 
no  claims  at  completeness ;  it  is  given  not  only  for  its 
usefulness  but  to  illustrate  the  principle  of  selection 
in  accordance  with  special  difficulties.  The  difficult 
parts  of  the  words  are  italicized. 

A  List  of  Useful  Difficult  Words  Based  upon  Three  Years' 
Experience  in  Using  Other  Lists 

GRADE    ONE 

In  the  first  grade  the  child  should  be  taught  to  spell 
common  words  which  are  phonetic.  His  interest  in  spell- 
ing should  be  stimulated,  and  in  all  his  writing  he  should 


258      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

spell  correctly.  A  great  deal  of  oral  spelling  should  be 
done  in  this  grade.  No  special  list  can  be  selected,  for 
it  will  depend  upon  the  literature  used  in  reading. 

GRADE   TWO 

A  great  deal  of  phonetic  spelling  should  be  done  in 
this  grade  continuing  the  work  of  the  first  grade.  In 
addition  to  this  the  child  should  be  introduced  to  a  list 
of  words  which  are  not  spelled  as  they  sound.  Words 
which  form  a  slight  transition  should  be  used  at  this  time. 
The  following  have  been  selected  with  this  purpose. 
Many  of  these  will  be  learned  by  association  later  on,  but 
they  are  useful  in  making  a  transition  from  the  purely 
phonetic  words  to  those  which  are  spelled  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  sound. 

add  bring  deep  evening 

air  brought  dirt  eye 

asleep  b^rn  done  fair 

August  carry  do  few 

aunt  catch  doctor  first 

been  chair  does  foot 

bear  change  dollar  four 

better  claim  door  fourth, 

bill  coat  down  fresh 

bird  comb  draw  front 

blacfc  come  drink  full 

blue  could  drown  girl 

boat  count  each  goes 

boil  cross  early  God 

bread  dead  eight  good 

bright  dear  even  grass 


SELECTION    IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     259 


great 

here 

new 

they 

grow 

jump 

only 

took 

guess 

knew 

own 

were 

haZf 

kniie 

root 

write 

hair 

lard 

sat'd 

wrote 

hang 

large 

says 

you 

head 

leaf 

shoe 

young 

hear 

lesson 

sky 

your 

heard 

meet 

soap 

heart 

near 

teeth 

GRADE    THREE 


about 

build 

daughter 

honest 

above 

bridge 

dinner 

hour 

across 

brindZe 

divide 

inquire 

act 

bury 

double 

island 

afraid 

busy 

earn 

its 

again 

bu^er 

earth 

(no  apos- 

almost 

bu^on 

easy 

trophe) 

animal 

carried 

else 

jail 

answer 

circle 

enough 

fcnee 

appear 

clean 

explain 

tough 

apple 

climb 

family 

learn 

arrest 

close 

February 

leather 

a^end 

cfoth 

field 

leave 

avoid 

coarse 

fierce 

lemon 

beauty 

coZor 

figure 

lightning 

because 

common 

fortune 

(no  e) 

between 

cough 

forty 

lose 

blossom 

country 

friend 

(not  oo) 

board 

cousin 

fruit 

machine 

bottom 

crowd 

grain 

measure 

breakfast 

daily 

heavy 

miller 

breath 

danger 

hoarse 

minute 

260       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 


miss 

picture 

severe 

tried 

money 

piece 

sleigh 

until 

much 

pleasant 

stopped 

walk 

(not  tch)  1 

primary 

sure  (not  sh)  1 

watch 

music 

prompt 

table 

wear 

notice 

prove 

thread 

wMch 

obey 

qwart 

there 

whistle 

o'clock 

reach 

their 

whole 

often 

ready 

threw 

wrap 

once 

ri66on 

through 

women 

parlor 

rough 

tired 

GRADE 

FOUR 

able 

collar 

neighbor 

separate 

ache 

inquire 

neither 

several 

according 

furnace 

ninety 

shoulder 

avowed 

guard 

palace 

soldier 

angel  (not  le)  1 

guide 

parade 

stairs 

attack 

itself 

pass 

throat 

author 

justice 

pigeon 

to-morrow 

beginning 

tying 

pleasure 

traveler 

biscmt 

lonesome 

pledge 

trial 

breathe 

ma^er 

practice 

trouble 

canoe 

mayor 

raisin 

unless 

carriage 

metal 

region 

village 

chain 

me^e 

roof 

weather 

chief 

mischief 

saucer 

weigh 

civil 

mountain 

scholar 

wrong 

GRADE    FIVE 

already  arrive  beat 

against  agreeable  awful  (not  awe)1    beet 

1  The  wrong  form  is  given  in  these  cases  so  that  the  teacher  will  empha- 
size the  correct  spelling.  Incorrect  practices  should  not  be  mentioned  before 
they  are  made. 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     261 


birth 

debt 

heaven 

passenger 

berth 

defeat 

height 

persuade 

bruise 

describe 

(not  th)  1 

pour 

business 

destroy 

hospital 

press 

cannot 

different 

instead 

promise 

can't 

disappoint 

jot^rney 

roll 

cement 

familiar 

judge 

scratch 

coast 

famous 

language 

succeed 

collect 

favorite 

length 

success 

column 

fever 

mail 

tear 

course 

fifth 

male 

victim 

court 

finaZ 

medicine 

view 

damage 

firm 

merely 

GRADE    SIX 

assure 

at  Me  tic 

command 

general 

accept 

attendance 

committee 

genuine 

acquaintance 

baggage 

complete 

glorious 

appetite 

balance 

convenient 

guest 

appreciation 

breast 

criticise 

imagine 

arrival 

bargain 

develop 

interrupt 

assist 

benefit 

dictionary 

innocent 

attempt 

brief 

difference 

luncheon 

avenue 

calendar 

disappear 

mountain 

acknowledge 

captain 

engage 

necessary 

advertise 

catalogue 

entire 

oblige  (not  d)  l 

annual 

certain 

estate 

occasion 

apply 

contain 

existence 

office 

appoint 

career 

factory 

official 

appreciate 

cemetery 

favor 

particular 

arrange 

character 

fina^y 

patient 

1  The  wrong 

form  is  given  in  these 

cases  so  that  the 

teacher  will  empha- 

size  the  correct  i 

spelling.    Incorrect  practices  should  not 

be  mentioned  before 

they  are  made. 


262      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 
pavement  preliminary         special  superintendent 


peculiar 

privilege 

strength 

testimony 

private 

receipt 

salary 

unfortaate 

pursue 

restaurant 

secretary 

valuable 

proceed 

recognise 

session 

volume 

physician 

recommend 

similar 

vacant 

practical  religion  sufficient  witness 

If  these  few  hundred  words  are  mastered  by  each  child 
and  the  remaining  time  given  to  his  own  peculiar  mis- 
takes and  difficulties,  greater  efficiency  in  everyday 
spelling  will  result.  There  are  very  few  useful  difficult 
words  which  are  not  included  in  the  above  lists. 

In  addition  to  this  list  there  are  many  peculiar  words 
with  which  children  will  experience  little  difficulty  if  the 
peculiarity  is  pointed  out  to  them.  Such  words  as  catarrh, 
words  which  begin  with  qu,  those  that  begin  with  silent 
k,  such  as  knife,  the  ch  words  which  do  not  sound  the  hT 
as  chord,  character,  etc.,  make  up  a  small  list  easily  mas- 
tered through  association.  The  days  of  the  week,  stress- 
ing Wednesday,  the  months  of  the  year,  stressing  Febru- 
ary, the  seasons,  holidays,  and  the  common  proper  names 
of  a  community  should  be  taught.1 

Writing 

The  Function  of  Writing.  Writing  is  a  medium  for 
expressing  the  English  language  through  written  words. 
Its  conventional  value  has  decreased  considerably  in  the 
last  decade.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  increased  use 

1  The  Everyday  Spelling  Books,  Bobbs-Merrill,  are  modem  and  scientific 
from  all  standpoints. 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     283 


of  typewriters.  However,  if  it  is  possible  to  attain 
without  too  great  effort,  the  ability  to  write  well  is  very 
worth  while.  The  conventional  reaction  to  good  or  poor 
writing  is  similar  to,  although  not  quite  so  strong  as 
that  for  spelling.  It  is  out  of  proportion  to  the  actual 
value  of  writing,  but  since  it  exists,  no  child  should  be 
allowed  to  suffer  unnecessary  difficulties  in  social  and 
vocational  life  because  of  neglect  of  this  side  of  his  edu- 
cation in  the  elementary  school.  There  is  better  reason 
for  spending  time  in  developing  the  ability  to  write  rapidly 
and  legibly  than  there  is  for  spending  time  in  technical 
grammar  or  a  great  deal  of  our  arithmetic. 

Legibility  and  a  certain  amount  of  speed  are  the  only 
essentials  in  writing.  The  ability  to  wield  the  pen  in  an 
artistic  manner  may  be  valuable  to  a  few  who  desire  to 
become  pen  artists,  but  since  most  persons  will  write  only 
to  communicate  their  thoughts,  writing  from  the  artistic 
standpoint  should  have  no  place  in  our  elementary  school 
curriculum.  The  law  of  diminishing  returns,  when  ap- 
plied to  writing,  wou  d  probably  fix  a  score  of  seventy  on 
the  Ayres  Scale  as  the  limit  beyond  which  practice,  is 
unprofitable. 

Points  to  Stress  in  Teaching  Writing.  In  developing 
proper  speed  and  legibility  the  teacher  should  stress  the 
following : 

1.  Position.  The  child  should  habituate  himself  to 
the  proper  position  for  good  writing  as  early  as  possible. 
He  should  sit  with  his  back  balanced  in  a  position  of  rest. 
Too  often  the  teacher's  admonitions  regarding  position 


264       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

cause  the  child  to  become  rigid  and  to  take  a  position 
which  constantly  subjects  him  to  strain.  Position  is  very 
important  in  the  acquisition  of  the  ability  to  write  rapidly 
and  well;  and  if  a  straining  position  is  acquired,  the 
child's  writing  will  always  be  cramped  and  will  become 
worse  as  he  continues  to  write. 

2.  The  method  of  holding  the  pen  or  pencil.     This 
should  afford  an  easy  restful  grasp.     The  pen  or  pencil 
should  not  be  held  too  close  to  the  end. 

3.  Maintain  the  uniform  slant  of  letters  and  the  align- 
ment of  the  words  across  the  page.     It  is  not  necessary 
to  teach  any  special  slant,  but  all  the  letters  should  have 
the  same  slant. 

4.  A  definite,  legible  ideal  for  each  letter  which  should 
be  persisted  in  through  all  the  grades. 

When  the  above  points  are  emphasized,  the  child  has 
something  definite  to  work  for  in  improving  his  writing. 
These  elements  have  been  found  to  be  the  important  ones 
in  the  development  of  the  ability  to  write  rapidly  and 
legibly.1  If  they  have  been  constantly  emphasized  as  basic 
features,  the  child  should  have  little  difficulty  in  attain- 
ing a  score  of  seventy  by  the  end  of  the  sixth  grade.  He 
should  work  toward  being  excused  from  practice  when  he 
reaches  seventy  in  everyday  work. 

[From  the  standpoint  ^dfiboth  hygiene  and  efficiency  all 
writing  periods  should  ibe  'shoitt.  LFlrom  (ten  fto  'fifteen 
minutes  is  sufficient.  'The  musciilar  movement  is  not 

1  Experiments  reported  in  17th  Yearbook  previously  referred  to.  See 
.also  Freeman :  The  Teaching  of  Handwriting.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 


SELECTION   IN   ARITHMETIC   AND   SPELLING     265 

necessary,  although  most  specialists  in  this  subject  insist 
upon  it.  School  administrators  agree  that  it  is  desirable, 
but  many  are  not  requiring  it.  Some  children  are  so  dis- 
turbed by  being  required  to  use  it  that  results  are  not  worth 
this  extra  effort.  It  becomes  especially  obnoxious  when 
all  writing  in  all  subjects  is  supposed  to  be  done  by  muscular 
movement.  The  use  of  the  typewriter  in  all  occupations 
which  require  very  much  writing  has  made  the  acquisition 
of  any  special  movement  unnecessary.  Those  who  find 
special  difficulty  with  it  do  not  need  to  go  through  six  or 
seven  years  of  agony  for  such  a  valueless  accomplishment. 


CHAPTER  XII 
METHODS  WHICH   FOSTER  HEALTH 

IT  is  not  the  intention  in  this  chapter  to  attempt  to 
treat  of  school  or  child  hygiene  but  rather  to  give  to  thi 
average    teacher    methods    and    practices    which    fostei 
health  and   to   point  out   those  which  militate  agains 
it.     There  are  so  many  peculiar  ideas  about  hygieni< 
methods  of  dealing  with  school  work  that  it  seems  wise 
to   consider    in   a    book    on    practice    those  features    o 
the  subject  which  may  and  should  be  employed  every- 
where. 

Hygienic  Methods  More  Efficient.  Everyone  should 
understand  that  there  is  no  conflict  between  hygiene 
and  the  most  effective,  lasting,  and  rapid  learning.  Learn- 
ing cannot  be  lasting  or  profitable  if  physical  and  menta 
health  are  impaired.  Learning  never  demands  that  chil- 
dren be  injured.  Wherever  education  and  vitality  seem 
to  be  opposed  to  each  other,  there  is  a  mistaken  theory  or 
inadequate  administration.  Modern  schools,  that  is 
those  which  truly  represent  modern  theory,  are  protect- 
ing health  and  at  the  same  time  are  obtaining  results 
which  in  both  quality  and  quantity  surpass  those  of  the 
traditional  school.  One  of  the  most  important  factors 
in  the  efficiency  of  some  modern  schools  is  the  large 

266 


O 

HP 
§Q2 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  267 

amount  of  attention  given  by  the  teachers  to  making 
their  instruction  both  mentally  and  physically  hygienic. 

Health  Methods  Growing  in  Popularity.  The  matter 
of  more  healthful  methods  and  practices  is  being  given 
great  consideration  by  schoolmen  in  all  countries.  In 
Monroe's  "Cyclopedia  of  Education"  a  great  deal  of  space 
is  given  to  this  sub j  ect .  Burgerstein  devotes  over  four  hun- 
dred pages  to  it  in  the  second  edition  of  his  handbook. 
He  emphasizes  the  hygienic  importance  of  the  mental 
habits  formed  by  education  and  of  the  secondary  effects 
of  instruction.  In  Rapeer's  "  Educational  Hygiene/' l  A.  S. 
Beik  makes  the  statement,  "  The  demands  of  instruction 
should  be  fitted  first  of  all  to  the  child's  innate  ability, 
stage  of  development,  and  condition  of  health,  after 
which  he  should  be  given  as  nearly  as  possible  optimum 
conditions  in  which  to  work;  work  and  rest  should  be 
properly  alternated  in  order  to  avoid  injury  from  over- 
fatigue  ;  finally  regard  should  be  had  for  the  laws  of 
mental  health,  care  being  taken  to  develop  proper  habits  of 
attention,  association  of  ideas,  and  emotional  response." 

Health  and  the  Early  Development  of  Special  Abilities 

Rapid  Early  Development  Should  Be  Watched  but  Not 
Opposed.  There  was  a  time  when  educational  thinkers  and 
leaders,  in  reacting  against  the  cramming  of  unselected 
subject  matter  into  the  heads  of  small  children,  created 
the  impression  that  precocity  in  itself  was  dangerous. 
This  idea  soon  gave  a  wide  prevalence  to  the  notion  that 
1  Scribner's,  Boston,  1915,  p.  585. 


268       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

mental  labor  or  activity  of  any  sort,  especially  when 
connected  with  school  subjects,  is  not  advantageous  be- 
fore the  age  of  six,  eight,  nine,  or  ten  years,  the  age  limil 
depending  upon  the  bias  of  the  person  making  the  state- 
ment. 

However,  a  study  of  the  data  upon  which  such  con- 
clusions were  based  shows  that  arrests,  neuroticisms 
special  failings  in  essential  mental  and  motor  abilities 
and  ill-health  in  a  large  per  cent  of  "  especially  bright  ' 
children  are  due  to  the  methods  used  by  teachers  and  to 
the  ignoring  of  certain  fundamental  factors  of  growth 
such  as  exercise,  a  suitable  amount  of  play,  proper  socia 
•environment,  etc.  The  exceptional  mental  ability  may 
have  been  developed  at  the  expense  of  more  importam 
features  of  life;  of  itself  it  could  not  have  been  the 
cause  of  the  evil  results.  In  fact,  school  authorities  are 
beginning  to  expect  better  results  in  regular  school  work 
and  an  earlier  mastery  of  the  fundamentals  of  such  sub- 
jects as  arithmetic,  spelling,  writing,  etc.,  as  an  outcome 
of  using  methods  which  foster  rather  than  militate  againsl 
children's  physical  growth  and  happiness. 

An  American  physician  l  who  has  made  a  study  of  pre- 
cocious children  with  reference  to  their  health  concludes 
'"  Of  precocity,  the  relationship  to  neuroticism  has  often 
been  declared ;  but  our  analysis  will  show  the  error  oJ 
this  view  unless  it  is  greatly  qualified.  While  it  is  true 
that  many  children  apparently  precocious  in  an  intel- 

i  Williams,  T.  A.  (M.D.).    Intellectual  Precocity.     Ped.  Sem.  Vol.  18 
1911,  pp.  85-103. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  269 

lectual  sense  are  unstable  mentally,  incapable  of  sus- 
tained effort,  and  become  adult  nonentities  without 
special  capacity,  yet  these  misfortunes  are  by  no  means 
functions  of  the  precocity  of  these  individuals ;  but  are 
due  to  faulty  bodily  hygiene,  intemperate  and  ill-timed 
mental  labor,  and  to  excessive  emotional  stresses  in  an 
individual  who  has  not  learned  to  master  the  moods. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact  proper  mental  labor  is  needed  for 
sound  psychic  health.  Physiologists  know  that  a  dis- 
used organ  is  more  liable  to  disintegration  or  to  become  dis- 
eased than  one  which  is  regularly  used. 

"  What  is  true  of  structure  is  true  of  functional  power. 
From  ballet  dancer  to  violin  virtuoso,  artists  must  be 
trained  from  early  youth.  It  may  be  objected  that  this 
is  true  because  muscular  agility  is  required,  but  this 
objection  is  only  superficial,  for  the  dexterity  of  an  artist 
is  made  possible  not  in  virtue  of  superior  coordinations 
of  movements  themselves  but  by  means  of  the  superior 
speed  and  accuracy  of  the  guiding  mental  processes  which 
reside  in  the  brain." 

Feeling  Tone  and  Social  Disposition  Important. 
Dr.  Williams  goes  on  to  say  that  the  most  important 
element  of  instruction,  whether  given  early  in  the  child's 
life  or  later,  is  "  feeling  tone."  If  he  is  happy  in  his 
work,  it  is  not  likely  to  injure  him.  This  happiness  is 
also  essential,  he  says,  for  rapid  and  thorough  learning. 
He  gives  a  number  of  pathological  cases  which  he  has 
cured  by  "  reeducation,"  and  he  constantly  maintains 
that  there  is  no  scientific  evidence  for  "  the  facile  accept' 


270      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

ance  of  slovenliness  and  inefficiency  as  a  normal  quality 
of  young  children." 

Extraordinary  abilities  in  school  subjects  developec 
by  a  very  young  child  should  be  watched  closely  by 
teachers  and  parents.  Dolbear,1  who  made  a  study  ol 
precocious  children  of  the  past  and  present,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  all  such  cases  should  be  closely  observec 
by  those  who  have  them  in  charge.  If,  as  Miss  Dolbear 
says,  many  are  "  very  much  spoiled  "  and  their  indi- 
vidualities have  been  developed  to  the  neglect  of  their 
social  natures,  their  training  has  not  been  wisely  con- 
sidered. Many  suffer  physically.  Others  have  poor 
motor  control.  The  Sidis  child  is  mentioned  as  being 
especially  deficient  in  both  social  and  motor  abilities. 

Factors  to  Keep  in  Mind.  The  teacher  is  not  likely 
to  go  astray  in  dealing  with  such  cases  if  he  follows  th< 
following  principles  : 

1.  Is  the  "  bright  "  child  vital  and  healthy?     If  not 
he  should  be  encouraged  to  do  less  indoor  sedentary  work 
and  to  play  out  of  doors  as  much  as  possible.     His  men 
tality  should  not  be  ignored,  and  he  must  be  given  tasks 
that  are  worthy  of  his  efforts.     These  tasks  should  be  o 
short  duration,  however,  and  should  not  keep  him  indoors 
for  long  periods. 

2.  Does  the  child  who  is  extraordinary  in  his  schoo 
work  get  along  well  with  his  fellows?     Many  so-called 
bright    children    are    often    the    dullest    of    companions 
and  playfellows.     They  fail  in  later    life    because   they 

1  Precocious  Children.     Ped.  Sem.  1913. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  271 

have  not  used  their  brightness  in  learning  the  ways  of 
the  social  world.  When  such  a  child  is  discovered  in 
school,  the  teacher  should  urge  him  to  play  more  with 
his  fellows.  He  should  be  taught  that  the  ability  to 
take  and  hold  his  part  in  a  good  game  is  just  as  impor- 
tant as  being  able  to  recite  well  in  school.  Such  a  child 
should  not  be  allowed  to  come  to  the  teacher  with  stories 
about  impositions  upon  him  by  other  children.  He 
must  learn  to  hold  his  own  in  the  great  world  outside  the 
schoolroom. 

3.  Any  indication   of  nervousness,  overemotional  re- 
action,  or  faulty   motor  adjustments   in   such   children 
should  be  looked  upon  as  very  grave,  and  the  teacher 
should  do  everything  he  can  to  alleviate  such  difficulties. 
If  they  are  allowed  to  run,  the  future  of  the  child  is  not 
hopeful.     The  proper  hygienic  surroundings  with  removal 
of  strain  of  every  kind  will  do  much  to  relieve  these 
troubles. 

4.  When  the  child  is  normal  in  every  other  way,  when 
he  plays  well,  cooperates  and  does  not  quarrel  unduly 
with  his  companions,  and  when  his  emotional  attitude  is 
one  of  healthy  accomplishment  and  joy  in  living,   he 
should  be  given  every  opportunity  to  use  his  powers  to 
the  fullest  extent.     However,  it  is  usually  best  to  sug- 
gest that  he  develop  powers  and  do  mental  work  out- 
side the  course  of  study.     Such  a  child  will  not  be  bene- 
fited nearly  so  much  by  hurrying  through  the  school  re- 
quirements and  finishing  early  as  he  will  by  devoting  his 
extra  abilities  and  energies  to  something  of  importance 


272      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

to  him.  The  common  school  furnishes  little  more  than 
a  common  education.  The  child  who  is  capable  shouk 
reap  the  rewards  to  which  his  capacity  entitles  him 
The  following  outside  activities  are  suggested  for  such 
children : 

1.  Physics,  electricity ,  wireless,  etc. 

2.  Music,  piano,  violin,  voice. 

3.  Wide  reading  in  books  of  a  high  economic,  social 
and  cultural  value. 

4.  Chemistry ;    a  laboratory   at  home  and   constan 
experiments    developed    Edison's    present    power    anc 
mentality. 

5.  Gardening,    nature   study,    biology,    the   care   anc 
study  of  animals.     Agassiz  was  famous  for  such  works  at 
the  age  of  ten.     Burbank  was  developed  in  this  way. 

6.  Extra    energy    spent    in    learning    a    trade.     John 
Rennie,    the   great   English   engineer,    received   impetus 
and  a  basis  for  his  career  by  working  at  odd  times  with 
a  blacksmith. 

The  reason  for  developing  outside  interests  for  these 
children  is  that  they  tend  to  become  and  to  appear  ab- 
normal if  they  are  in  the  same  classes  with  children  who 
are  both  larger  and  older  than  they.  As  he  approaches 
adolescence  this  type  of  child  should  have  some  dominant 
life  interests  to  which  to  devote  his  extra  energies  in  this 
period  of  stress. 

The  four  principles  given  here  should,  of  course,  be 
applied  in  our  treatment  of  normal  children.  The  pre- 
cocious or  "  extra  bright  "  child,  however,  needs  especial 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  273 

attention  from  this  standpoint.     The  backward  or  de- 
ficient child  needs  attention  of  a  different  nature. 

Backward  Children 

The  Slow  Child  Needs  Encouragement.  Special 
care  should  be  exercised  with  backward  children  in 
order  that  they  may  not  become  nervous  under  the 
strain  of  knowing  that  they  are  not  coming  up  to 
expectations.  The  teacher's  motto  should  be  "  encour- 
age." Every  means  should  be  exhausted  to  discover  and 
eliminate  the  causes  of  backwardness.  If  the  child  has 
poor  health,  the  parents  should  be  informed,  and  ways 
of  improving  his  health  should  be  suggested.  If  it  is 
evident  that  he  is  naturally  slow,  every  opportunity  to 
make  him  happy  with  his  lot  should  be  taken  advantage 
of.  His  special  capacities  should  be  brought  to  the 
front.  If  he  has  any  powers,  he  should  be  told  of  them. 
Too  often  the  school  is  a  means  of  causing  backward 
children  to  become  more  backward.  Due  to  constant 
scolding  and  failure  in  school  many  persons  who  are 
fairly  capable  lose  confidence  in  themselves.  Others 
become  soured  on  the  world  and  society  when  they 
might  have  become  happy  efficient  citizens  under  proper 
stimulation  and  encouragement  in  school. 

Unimportant  Defects  Should  Not  Be  Emphasized. 
Very  often  unimportant  types  of  backwardness  are  made 
too  much  of  by  the  school.  I  have  in  mind  a  boy 
who  was  held  back  in  school  and  made  nervous  because 
of  inability  in  oral  reading.  A  teacher  who  did  not 


274      MODERN  ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

overstress  this  type  of  performance  so  encouraged  him 
that  he  was  able  to  skip  a  year's  work.  His  attitude 
towards  both  school  work  and  life  was  materially  im- 
proved. Backwardness  in  only  one  subject  should  never 
be  allowed  to  retard  a  child. 

Arrested  Development 

Peculiar  Arrests  Very  Frequent.  One  of  the  most 
important  problems  of  mental  hygiene  in  the  school 
is  to  teach  in  a  way  which  will  prevent  arrests  and 
destructive  by-products.  The  dangers  of  arrests  have 
long  been  recognized  by  leaders  in  education.  Many 
years  ago  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  spoke  of  them  as  follows  :  "  A 
severe  drill  in  mechanical  habits  of  memorizing  or  cal- 
culating, any  overcultivation  of  sense  perception  in 
tender  years,  may  so  arrest  the  development  of  the  soul 
in  a  mechanical  method  of  thinking  as  to  prevent  further 
growth  into  spiritual  insight."  1 

Although  such  cases  have  been  noted  and  commented 
upon  now  and  then,  they  have  not  been  brought  to  the 
foreground  as  they  should  have  been  in  books  on  method. 
One  of  the  best  studies  of  arrests  is  that  made  by  Dr. 
Norman  Triplett.  He  discovered  that  many  individuals 
in  college  classes  were  sufferers  from  poorly  directed  or 
overzealous  pedagogy  applied  to  them  in  childhood.  He 
collected  these  cases  and  reported  them.2  "  About  700  of 
these  cases  have  been  collected/'  he  writes.  "It  is  not 

1  Psychologic  Foundations  of  Education,  p.  142. 

2  Pedagogical  Arrests  and  Peculiarities.     Ped.|Sem.  Vol.  12,  1905,  pp. 
141-157. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  275 

difficult  to  find  them ;  indeed  the  majority  of  most  classes 
find  that  they  have  some  phase  of  the  so-called  arrests/' 

They  occur  in  most  of  the  "  common  branches."  They 
should  be  expected  here,  for  the  traditional  school  is  likely 
to  overstress  this  side  of  education  and  to  teach  such 
subjects  as  geography,  history,  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic  regardless  of  all  pedagogical  principles.  Some 
of  the  arrests  described  by  Dr.  Triplett  are : 

Geography.  Overemphasis  of  places  on  maps  and  of 
map-drawing  has  resulted  in  the  development  of  a  map 
imagery  which  cannot  be  overcome.  When  the  in- 
dividual wants  to  think  of  some  place  on  the  earth,  a 
map  comes  up  instead.  These  cases  are  always  found 
among  persons  who  are  visualizers  Peculiar  methods 
and  practices  have  been  continuously  used  until  a  special 
image  is  welded  into  the  child's  consciousness,  and  he  is 
never  able  entirely  to  eradicate  it.  Some  statements 
that  illustrate  this  are  : 

"We  drew  the  coast  line  so  often,  especially  the  New  England 
coast,  that  each  indentation  as  it  appeared  on  the  map  stands  out 
as  vividly  as  it  did  then ;  the  result  is  that  I  never  think  of  those 
bays  as  bodies  of  water  but  as  small  blue  spots  on  the  map." 

"At  eight  years  of  age  I  entered  a  class  in  M's  geography, 
a  textbook  with  supplementary  atlas.  Several  years  were 
spent  upon  map  questions ;  today  the  mention  of  even  a  famil- 
iar place  suggests  a  map  rather  than  a  picture  of  the  place." 

Methods  of  Preventing.  Such  cases,  and  they  are 
quite  frequent  and  of  many  varieties,  reveal  that  teach- 
ers must  teach  more  concretely,  use  more  thinking  and 


276       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

less  drill  and  memorizing,  and  sound  children  constantly 
as  to  the  concepts  they  are  acquiring.  Overdrill  and 
extreme  requirements  in  the  memorizing  of  symbols  must 
be  avoided. 

Arithmetic.  Constant  pressure  with  scoldings  and 
threats  often  develops  an  unfortunate  mental  attitude 
towards  this  subject  which  is  carried  through  life.  A 
child,  who,  properly  taught,  may  have  mastered  the 
essentials  of  arithmetic,  may  lose  this  ability  entirely. 
It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  in  every  class  there  are 
likely  to  be  one  or  two  children  who  are  by  nature  lack- 
ing in  this  type  of  intelligence.  It  is  best  to  let  them 
work  slowly  and  acquire  the  subject  by  growth  rather 
than  bring  about  overstrain.  "  Counting  "  is  a  type  of 
hysteria.  A  nervous  individual  who  has  been  strenu- 
ously trained  in  mathematics  may  acquire  a  mania  for 
counting.  "  Counters  "  are  not  always  caused  by  over- 
pressure or  overdrill  in  arithmetic,  but  it  can  readily  be 
seen  that  severe  pressure  in  this  subject  would  aggravate 
hysterical  natures.  Weird  number  forms  are  also  often 
a  result  of  bad  methods  of  teaching. 

Special  Causes  of  Arrests.  That  peculiar  attitudes 
towards  any  subject  may  be  developed  in  children  by 
improper  teaching  methods  cannot  be  doubted.  The 
teacher  should,  as  far  as  possible,  avoid  doing  anything 
which  is  likely  to  fix  the  child's  attitude  against  a  sub- 
ject, or  develop  a  method  of  thinking  which  will  keep  him 
"  in  a  rut,"  or  militate  against  his  progress.  Some  special 
causes  of  arrests  are  : 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  277 

1.  Too  much  stress  placed  upon  a  subject  too  early  in 
life. 

2.  Threats  or  overstrenuous  demands  by  teachers. 

3.  Failing  a  child  for  deficiency  in  a  single  subject. 

4.  Overdrill  and  not  enough  application. 

5.  Constant  association  with  symbols  and  not  enough 
concrete  work. 

Home  Study 

Over  thirty  years  ago  the  Boston  board  of  education 
passed  a  resolution  as  follows  :  "  Home  lessons  in  arith- 
metic should  be  given  out  only  in  exceptional  cases." 
President  Walker  of  the  board  said,  "  Over  and  over 
again  have  I  had  to  send  my  own  children,  in  spite  of 
their  tears  and  remonstrances,  to  bed,  long  after  the 
assigned  tasks  had  ceased  to  have  any  educational  value 
and  had  become  the  means  of  nervous  exhaustion  and 
agitation,  highly  prejudicial  to  body  and  to  mind ;  and 
I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  such  has  been  the  experi- 
ence of  a  large  proportion  of  the  parents  whose  children 
are  habitually  assigned  home  lessons  in  arithmetic."  1 

An  important  factor  of  home  study  is  the  character  of 
the  home.  For  example,  Schmidt,  quoted  by  Burnham, 
found  in  one  city  25,679  dwel  ings  in  cellars  ;  3385  dwell- 
ings on  the  fifth  story  ;  343  still  higher ;  560  ground  stories 
with  175  to  200  tenants  each ;  154  with  226  to  250  in- 

1  Burnham,  W.  H.  The  Hygiene  of  Home  Study.  Fed.  Sem.  Vol. 
12,  1905,  pp.  213-230.  Dr.  Burnham  is  quoted  largely  in  this  section 
because  he  is  the  only  American  who  has  gone  far  into  the  field  of  the 
hygiene  of  instruction. 


278       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

habitants  each  ;  and  6  with  a  still  larger  number  of  people. 
Further  it  was  reported  that  there  were  1749  common 
kitchens,  and  the  climax  of  misery  was  found  in  4086 
dwellings  which  consisted  only  of  a  kitchen.  In  dwellings 
with  only  one  heated  room  the  number  of  inhabitants 
was  HjlOO.1 

Then  the  work  a  child  must  do  outside  of  school,  the 
fact  that  he  will  probably  be  helped  more  through 
recreation  than  study,  and  the  slovenly  habits  formed 
by  dawdling  over  irksome  tasks,  all  point  in  the  direction 
of  fewer  home  assignments.  To  quote  Burnham  further : 
"  The  trend  of  opinion  now  is  rather  strongly  against  the 
giving  of  home  tasks.  The  opinion  of  hygienists  is  that 
it  leads  to  overpressure,  at  least  in  many  individual 
cases.  The  opinion  of  many  school  men  also  is  that  it 
leads  to  deception  and  slovenly  work,  and  that  only  a 
minimum  amount  is  necessary. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  poor,  where  home  conditions  make 
hygienic  study  impossible,  or  where  so  much  work  must 
be  done  by  the  pupils  that  there  is  no  time  for  study, 
the  allotment  of  home  tasks  should  be  altogether  con- 
demned. In  the  case  of  the  well-to-do,  where  the  par- 
ents wish  to  share  in  the  education  of  their  children  and 
where  outside  tasks  like  instruction  in  music,  domestic 
duties,  or  the  1  ke  may  be  quite  as  mportant  as  the  school 
work,  the  allotment  of  home  tasks  is  likewise  undesirable. 
The  safe  rule  would  seem  to  be  that  no  home  work  should 

1  Berlin  in  1904.  Burnham  notes  that  many  of  our  own  cities  are  not 
far  in  advance  of  this. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  279 

be  prescribed ;  but  where  this  seems  desirable,  sugges- 
tion for  spontaneous  work  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  may 
well  be  given." 

The  best  time  to  study  is  during  the  day  at  school. 
There  should  be  provided,  from  the  fifth  grade  up,  ample 
study  periods.  At  this  time  the  children  should  be 
taught  hygienic  and  effective  study  methods. 

Child  Health  and  Arithmetic 

Length  of  Periods.  In  the  study  of  this  subject  grow- 
ing children  must  be  confined  within  school  buildings 
and  must  sit  in  school  seats.  It  is  apparent,  then,  that 
there  is  a  limit  to  the  amount  of  time  which  may  be 
profitably  spent  in  this  way.  Too  much  time,  especially 
in  continuous  periods,  not  only  militates  against  vitality 
but  also  results  in  less  rapid  and  less  thorough  learning. 
Kirby,  Thorndike,  Burnham,  Stone,  Rice,  and  Brown 
report  that  less  time  spent  more  efficiently  will  result  in 
better  learning  in  this  subject.  This  is  true  especially 
in  drill  work.  The  time  which  may  profitably  be  spent 
in  ordinary  arithmetic  does  not  exceed  fifteen  minutes 
per  day  in  the  primary,  twenty  minutes  per  day  in  the 
intermediate,  and  thirty  minutes  per  day  in  the  upper 
grades. 

Burnham  *  suggests,  —  "If  in  16  per  cent  of  the  school 
time  pupils  learn  as  much  arithmetic  as  in  20  per  cent  of 
the  time,  hygiene  suggests  that  the  superfluous  time  de- 

1  Arithmetic  and  School  Hygiene.  Burnham,  W.  H.  Fed.  Sem.  Vol. 
18,  1911,  pp.  54-73. 


280      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

voted  to  the  subject  had  better  be  spent  in  play  out  of 
doors.  It  is  not  for  hygiene  to  minimize  the  importance 
of  arithmetic ;  but  with  so  many  subjects  crowding  the 
curriculum  the  problem  whether  too  much  time  is  spent 
on  arithmetic  although  primarily  a  pedagogical  question, 
becomes  a  hygienic  one  also." 

Nervous  Tension  and  Over-stress  Should  Be  Avoided. 
If  the  best  results  are  to  follow,  the  teacher  should  do 
everything  possible  to  prevent  anxiety  and  worry,  men- 
tal strain,  and  tension  in  the  study  of  this  subject;  for 
it  seems  more  than  other  subjects  to  be  the  cause  of 
worry  and  nervousness  in  children.  Burnham  gives  the 
following  case  among  others :  "A  boy  of  ten  is  working 
a  sum  on  the  blackboard.  He  stumbles  and  blunders 
unaccountably.  The  teacher  in  her  pedagogical  zeal 
goads  and  nags  him,  and  finally  humiliates  him  by  bring- 
ing into  the  class  his  younger  sister  from  a  lower  grade 
to  perform  the  example  for  him.  Within  ten  days  the 
same  boy  is  ill  with  endocarditis,  a  disease  to  which  chorea 
too  often  seems  to  be  prodromal." 

This  is,  of  course,  an  exceptional  case,  and  many 
teachers  know  from  experience  that  such  results  do  not 
always  follow  this  kind  of  treatment.  But  the  teacher 
should  also  know  that  some  children  undergo  undue  nerv- 
ous strain  because  mathematical  association  is  so  difficult 
for  them.  These  individuals  should  be  closely  watched 
and  shielded  rather  than  scolded  at  critical  times.  The 
child's  nervous  balance  is  worth  many  times  as  much  to 
him  as  is  the  arithmetic.  And  it  must  also  be  kept  in 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  281 

mind  that  when  the  former  is  in  any  way  threatened  the 
latter  is  bound  to  suffer  in  the  long  run.  If  the  child 
appears  delicate,  undernourished,  nervous,  or  especially 
backward  in  this  subject,  the  teacher  should  be  especially 
careful  not  to  add  to  the  difficulties  by  his  method  of 
teaching. 

Time  to  Begin  Arithmetic.  By  making  it  a  part  of 
their  lives  and  by  teaching  it  for  no  more  than  fifteen 
minutes  per  day,  arithmetic  may  be  made  quite  profitable 
to  children  in  the  first  grade.  It  does  not  have  the  draw- 
backs of  reading,  which  requires  continuous  use  of  the 
fine  eye-muscles.  Some  of  the  time  that  has  been  de- 
voted to  reading  might  with  profit  be  given  over  to  arith- 
metic. Games  which  involve  elementary  arithmetic, 
memory  work,  and  concrete  arithmetic  involved  in  money, 
measuring,  and  counting  may  be  taken  up  without  dif- 
ficulty in  the  primary  grades.  Before  he  finishes  the 
third  grade  the  normal  child  may  be  taught  all  the 
multiplication  tables,  addition,  subtraction,  and  most  of 
division.  If  no  more  than  fifteen  minutes  a  day  is  de- 
voted to  the  subject  in  the  lower  grades,  if  the  teacher  is 
constantly  on  the  lookout  for  overstrain,  and  if  individ- 
uals who  are  backward  are  not  discouraged  but  encour- 
aged, more  arithmetic  than  is  ordinarily  completed  in 
the  fourth  grade  may  be  finished  by  the  end  of  the  third. 
The  objections  raised  by  Burnham,  Kilpatrick,  and  others 
to  arithmetic  below  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years  are 
limited  to  the  three  factors :  (l)  too  much  time  given  in 
the  lower  grades,  (2)  the  undue  strain  resulting  from  un- 


282       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

sympathetic  and  oppressive  methods,  and  (3)  too  early 
introduction  of  abstract  association. 

The  Hygiene  of  Motor  Subjects 

Drawing  and  other  forms  of  art  work,  writing,  wood- 
work, and  sewing  as  a  group  of  motor  subjects  furnish 
many  problems  in  instruction  as  related  to  health.  The 
hygienic  element  in  teaching  these  subjects  is  very  im- 
portant. "  For  lack  of  it  at  the  present  time,"  says 
Burnham,1  "  many  errors  prevail,  and  there  is  often 
failure  to  give  suitable  opportunity  for  the  development 
of  this  form  of  artistic  speech. "  From  the  standpoint 
of  hygiene  the  following  features  are  important. 

Vision.  The  teacher  should  keep  in  mind  that  the 
younger  the  child  the  less  developed  are  his  eyes,  anc 
that  in  the  lower  grades  very  little  work  should  be  don< 
which  will  require  minute  inspection.  Basketry,  weav- 
ing, drawing,  needlework,  and  writing  must  be  carefully 
watched  from  this  standpoint.  Many  children  are  in 
capable  of  good  motor  work  because  of  poor  vision 
The  teacher  should  strive  to  discover  whether  the 
~  child's  vision  is  normal  and  whether  or  not  he  is  colo 
^ '  %blind.  This  defect  is  usually  found  in  from  two  t< 
four  per  cent  of  boys  but  hardly  ever  in  girls 
Teachers  who  think  that  the  introduction  of  more  mod 
ern  motor  subjects  will  insure  a  more  hygienic  program 
often  violate  the  laws  of  visual  hygiene  by  using  toe 
fine  materials. 

1  The  Hygiene  of  Drawing.     Fed.  Sem.  Vol.  14,  1917,  pp.  289-304. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  283 

Position.  When  a  child  is  required  to  work  at  a 
motor  subject  for  a  regular  daily  period,  the  position 
he  assumes  is  of  great  importance,  not  only  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  work,  but  also  to  his  general  physical 
well-being.  In  woodwork  the  bench  should  be  of  such 
height  as  to  allow  work  which  may  be  done  without 
constant  bending  at  the  waist.  In  the  vocational 
schools  of  many  European  countries  the  development 
of  a  health-stimulating  posture  is  made  a  vital  part  of 
instruction.1 

In  drawing,  painting,  and  writing,  the  following  prin- 
ciples of  position  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  the  teacher 
and  adhered  to  by  the  children.  The  teacher  should  not 
make  position  a  cause  of  nervous  tension  by  being  too 
rigid  in  the  enforcing  of  rules. 

Every  child  should  understand  that  his  posture  will 
affect  his  circulation,  breathing,  growth,  endurance,  and 
finally,  his  efficiency.  Good  postures  are  the  most  restful 
and  are  never  rigid. 

1.  The  upper  part  of  the  body  should  rest  at  an  easy 
erect  position. 

2.  The  surface  of  the  paper  should  be  in  a  place  which 
will  not  require  undue  strain  either  in  stretching  or  cramp- 
ing the  muscles. 

3.  The  left  hand  and  arm  should  be  used  to  hold  the 
paper  and  in  no  way  subjected  to  strain  or  cramping. 

4.  The  shoulders  should  by  all  means  be  kept  in  an 
easy,  restful  position  and  at  equal  height. 

1  See  Burgerstein  and  Netolitzski,  Das  Handbuch  der  Schulhygiene. 


284      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Length  of  Periods.  In  woodwork  and  laboratory 
cooking  long  periods  are  not  unwholesome.  If  an  in- 
formal attitude  is  taken  by  the  teacher,  these  subjects 
are  likely  to  be  restful.  In  writing,  continuous  practice 
for  improvement  should  not  last  over  five  minutes  in  the 
lower  grades,  ten  minutes  in  the  intermediate  grades,  anc 
fifteen  minutes  in  the  upper  grades.1  Sewing,  especially 
of  a  fine  nature,  is  very  hard  on  the  eyes.  The  teacher 
must  arrange  so  as  not  to  have  long  periods  of  close 
work. 

Materials.  Materials  which  are  unwholesome  or  which 
interfere  with  good  work  are  not  only  inefficient  but  harm- 
ful. Drawing  crayons  often  contain  arsenic.  Children 
should  be  protected  against  the  least  possibility  of  any- 
thing of  this  nature.  When  the  materials  are  inadequate 
or  interfere  with  the  child's  performance,  nervous  tension 
is  very  likely  to  ensue.  A  scratchy  pen,  a  penholder  not 
suited  to  the  child,  and  paper  surface  that  interferes  with 
writing  are  likely  to  cause  unnecessary  worry.  Gooc 
materials,  but  not  necessarily  intricate  or  expensive  ap- 
paratus, should  always  be  provided. 

Reading 

Importance  of  Health  Methods  in  Reading.  Since 
school  authorities  place  more  stress  upon  reading  than 
upon  any  other  subject,  and  since  it  is  involved  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  in  every  other  subject,  it  is 
very  important  that  proper  hygienic  methods  and  mate- 
1  Large  list  of  Experiments  given  by  Thompson. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  285 

rials  be  used  in  teaching  it  and  that  hygienic  habits  be 
formed  by  those  who  read.  Beading  also  involves  the 
constant  use  of  the  eyes.  These  sense-organs,  which 
are  basic  to  all  life  occupations  and  activities,  are  often 
injured  by  the  work  imposed  upon  the  child  in  school. 
That  children  should  be  thus  handicapped  and  injured 
in  the  name  of  education  seems  almost  beyond  belief  in 
this  enlightened  day  and  age ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  they  are.  Publishers  and  book  agents  continually 
claim  that  they  do  not  go  to  the  expense  of  making 
hygienic  books  because  teachers  and  school  authorities  do 
not  demand  or  buy  them.  When  a  publisher  does  produce 
a  proper  book,  he  finds  that  a  cheaper  book  is  available  and 
that  there  is  no  sale  for  his.  The  time  is  coming,  although 
slowly,  when  there  will  be  a  hygienic  minimum  for  every 
book  published,  and  stringent  laws  will  be  made  concern- 
ing books  that  are  to  be  read  by  children  especially.  In 
the  meantime  the  least  we  should  do  is  to  stress  hygienic 
methods  of  using  the  books  that  are  on  hand. 

When  Should  Reading  Begin  ?  The  important  factor 
in  beginning  the  proper  teaching  of  reading  is  not  to  wait 
too  long.  When  taught  rightly,  reading  may  well  begin 
in  the  kindergarten.  Many  hygienists  have  made  the 
mistake  of  confusing  all  reading  with  the  improper 
methods,  long  periods,  and  oppressive  practices  of  the 
traditional  school.  Burnham  wisely  suggests  that  formal 
instruction  be  deferred.  But  the  modern  school  is  en- 
tirely doing  away  with  the  old  formal  methods.  The 
work  is  being  related  to  the  child's  natural  life  and  in- 


286       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

terests  all  through  the  grades.  In  the  Horace  Mam 
kindergarten  instruction  in  reading  is  quite  profitable 
and,  since  injurious  methods  are  not  used,  no  bad  effect 
follow.1 

Length  of  Periods.  All  reading  periods  should  b 
short.  In  the  lower  grades  it  is  better  to  have  two  ten 
or  fifteen-minute  periods  than  one  of  twenty  or  thirt) 
minutes.  In  the  intermediate  grades  not  over  twent} 
minutes  should  be  continuously  devoted  to  reading. 

Protective  Methods.  (1)  In  the  first  and  second  grade 
children  should  not  be  required  to  keep  the  place  while  * 
pupil  reads.  The  constant  attention  to  the  page  doe 
not  allow  the  fine  eye  muscles  opportunity  to  relax 
The  educational  value  of  "  keeping  the  place  "  is  toe 
small  to  compensate  for  injury  that  might  result.  Th 
child  is  not  likely  to  learn  much  about  reading  by  fol 
lowing  another's  recitation.  There  is  greater  incentive 
to  the  reader  in  expressing  his  paragraph  or  page  to  a 
group  which  is  interested  in  his  performance  than  to  on< 
which  has  its  eyes  glued  to  books.  If  the  child  attends 
to  his  book  only  when  he  is  to  read,  there  is  little  op 
portunity  for  overstrain. 

By  long  observation  it  has  been  found  that  find- 
ing the  place  when  called  upon  is  of  even  greatei 
educational  value  than  keeping  it.  The  child  mus1 
keep  in  mind  what  is  being  read  and  must  use  his 
reading  ability  to  glance  rapidly  over  the  page  anc 
find  the  place  where  the  last  reader  stopped.  Any 
1  Described  and  reference  given  in  the  chapter  on  Motives. 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  287 

teacher  who  will  try  conscientiously  for  three  weeks  the 
method  of  allowing  the  child  to  read  to  the  class  while  it 
keeps  its  books  closed,  and  of  giving  each  new  reader  the 
page  but  allowing  him  to  find  the  place  for  himself,  is 
likely  to  be  an  advocate  of  the  system.  Tried  for  a  day 
or  two  with  inexperienced  children,  or  with  those  who 
have  been  trained  merely  to  follow  the  reader,  success 
should  not  be  expected.  Everything  that  is  worth  while 
must  be  worked  for.  With  proper  exercise  children  soon 
develop  great  ability  to  find  the  page  when  the  teacher 
has  given  the  number.  They  scan  it  rapidly  and  are 
ready  to  read  almost  as  quickly  as  when  they  have  been 
required  to  keep  their  eyes  upon  the  lines. 

A  very  advantageous  and  hygienic  exercise  in  reading 
is  to  read  a  sentence  or  a  paragraph,  name  the  page,  and 
see  how  quickly  all  the  children  can  find  the  place. 

It  is  very  important  that  the  delicate  and  immature 
eye  muscles  of  small  children  be  protected  from  strain 
or  continuous  contraction.  Reading  by  small  children 
should  be  continually  alternated  by  looking  away  from 
the  book. 

(2)  Another  method  which  is  valuable  from  the  learn- 
ing standpoint  and  likewise  hygienic  is  to  ask  children  to 
read  a  paragraph  and  then,  looking  away  from  their 
books,  tell  the  vital  parts  of  it. 

Illustration : 

Teacher :  "  Who  can  tell  us  what  the  elephant  said  to 
the  camel?  When  you  are  ready,  stop  reading  and  look 
at  me.  After  I  have  seen  that  you  are  ready,  you  may 


288      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

find  out  how  the  camel  answered  him,  if  you  want  to 
while  some  of  the  others  are  trying  to  catch  up." 

Question  follows   question  throughout  the  recitation 
The  children  read  silently  and  after  each  question 
look  away  from  their  books  to  recite. 

A  more  advanced  class  may  read  and  report  under  som 
such  direction  as  the  following : 

c  Will  you  all  read  the  next  paragraph  and  be  read 
as  quickly  as  possible  to  tell  us  the  important  add] 
tions  to  our  story  that  you  find  there?  " 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  both  of  the  methods  sug 
gested  are  in  line  with  the  modern  attitude  towards  reac 
ing  and  are  effective  in  helping  the  children  to  gain  powe 
in  silent  scanning. 

Position  in  Reading.  We  cannot  be  too  careful  tha 
children  have  good  light,  falling  upon  the  book  and  no 
shining  into  their  eyes.  Teachers  often  do  not  like  to  g 
to  the  trouble  of  constantly  adjusting  shades  or  of  movin 
the  children  about.  Time  spent  in  this  way  is  well  spent 
and  is  bound  to  be  a  large  factor  in  producing  better  results. 

The  children  should  sit  in  a  free  position  with  bodies 
erect.     There  is  no  special  advantage  in  holding  the  boo] 
rigidly  in  the  left  hand.     This  is  a  custom  which  prol 
ably  grew  up  from  some  accidental  beginning  and  is 
almost    a    fetish   with    some   teachers.     It    is    probably 
better  to  hold  the  book  in  both  hands.    The  teacher  shoulc 
allow  the  child  to  use  the  most  natural  and  restful  metho< 

Materials  for  Reading.     Teachers  should  band  thei 
selves  together  to  fight  for  hygienic  books.     We  si 


METHODS   WHICH   FOSTER   HEALTH  289 

never  get  them  unless  we  assert  that  hygiene  is  a  minimum 
essential,  and  that  interesting  and  educative  contents 
is  worth  while  only  if  this  minimum  is  complied  with. 
It  costs  more  to  put  out  a  hygienic  book  than  to  put  out 
one  where  the  laws  of  hygiene  do  not  have  to  be  fol- 
lowed. 

The  print  should  be  of  correct  height,   weight,   and 
spacing.     The  correct  size  is  given  here.1 

GRADE  1 

"The  children  cannot  see  it 
now." 

GRADES  2  AND  3 

u  She  must  climb  the  tree.      She  held 
on,  first  to  one  branch  and  then  to  an- 

GRADE  4 

"  On  the  way  down,  an  Indian  who  was  in  a 
canoe  stole  something  from  the  ship.     One  of 

In  order  to  make  attractive  pictures,  which  are  more  in 
demand  than  hygienic  materials,  publishers  are  often 
forced  to  use  paper  with  a  very  high  finish.  Whenever 
possible  the  teacher  should  give  preference  to  the  text 
printed  on  paper  that  does  not  reflect  the  light. 

The  books  and  materials  used  in  reading  should  be 
watched  closely  so  as  not  to  become  sources  of  contagion. 

1  According  to  Terman  in  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child, 
u 


290       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Children  should  not  wet  their  fingers  in  their  mouths 
and  then  use  them  to  turn  pages.  Whenever  a  book 
comes  in  contact  with  a  child  who  has  a  contagious  dis- 
ease, it  should  be  burned  rather  than  fumigated.  Fumi- 
gation is  a  very  doubtful  method  of  removing  contagion 
from  books.  It  is  rarely  possible  to  do  it  effectively. 

Summary 

It  might  be  said  by  way  of  summary  that  hygienic 
methods  are  natural  methods.  Anything  that  runs 
counter  to  the  child's  natural  growth  or  spontaneity  is 
not  likely  to  be  either  efficient  or  hygienic ;  further,  in 
dealing  with  extra  bright  or  with  backward  children 
special  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  nervousness  and 
arrests.  And,  lastly,  in  teaching  every  school  subject 
larger  and  more  permanent  results  will  follow  if  care  is 
taken  to  use  methods  which  foster  health. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LESS  SEDENTARY  PRACTICES  AND  METHODS 

Less  Sedentary  Programs 

The  Hygiene  of  the  Program.  Textbooks  on  school 
hygiene  used  to  insist  upon  a  definite  program  of  sub- 
jects based  upon  the  supposed  curve  of  work.  Arithme- 
tic or  some  "  difficult  "  subject  was  placed  first  in  the 
day  because  the  child  was  supposed  to  be  more  capable 
at  that  time  than  later.  Experiments  have  proved  that 
the  curve  of  energy  or  ability  to  work  depends  upon  so 
many  factors  that  it  is  impossible  to  fix  with  surety  a 
program  based  upon  it. 

However,  all  our  evidence  points  to  the  necessity  of  a 
balanced  program.  Subjects  which  allow  or  employ 
physical  activity  and  those,  like  music,  which  secure  re- 
laxation should  be  alternated  with  subjects  which  use 
specific  mental  powers  or  those  which  are  confining. 
Monotony  retards  learning,  especially  with  small  children. 
The  constant  use  of  a  single  brain  function,  as  in  any 
work  requiring  mechanical  memory,  or  the  use  of  small 
muscles,  as  the  eye  muscles  in  reading  or  the  finger  and 
forearm  muscles  in  writing,  should  be  avoided.  Both 
the  efficiency  of  children's  learning  and  their  health  are 
benefited  in  this  way.  But  the  most  common  reason  for 

291 


292       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

a  varied  program  is  to  balance  seat  work,  which  is  con- 
fining to  both  body  and  spirit,  with  work  which  allows 
for  physical  relaxation  and  activity. 

Relaxation  Periods.  In  addition  to  the  arrangement  of 
subjects  to  avoid  monotony,  overstrain  of  functions  or 
small  muscles,  and  too  long  sitting,  special  periods  for 
relaxation  and  light  exercise  should  be  provided.  These 
are  usually  placed  at  the  end  of  every  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  in  the  lower  grades  and  at  the  end  of  every  thirty 
or  forty  minutes  in  the  upper  grades.  The  relaxation 
period  should  last  from  five  to  eight  minutes.  A  good 
game  followed  by  stretching  exercises  will  make  the 
relaxation  period  both  interesting  and  profitable.  In 
the  lower  grades  of  many  schools  rhythmic  exercises  and 
folk  dances  are  used  in  these  relaxation  periods. 

Illustrative  Programs.  The  two  programs  which  fol- 
low were  used  for  a  year  in  the  grades  indicated.  Re- 
sults proved  that  time  was  not  wasted  by  the  relaxation 
and  exercise  periods.  Both  grades  covered  more  work 
than  was  required  in  the  state  course  of  study.  In  some 
subjects  they  finished  over  three  times  the  amount  sug- 
gested in  the  state  course. 

FIRST    GRADE 

9 :  00  to  9  :  10    Opening  Exercises 
9 :  10  to  9  :  20    Phonics 
9 :  20  to  9 :  25    Rhythm  and  Folk  Dances 
9 :  25  to  9  :  40    Reading 
9 :  40  to  9  :  50    Spelling 

9 :  50  to  10 :  30  Play 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES   AND   METHODS    293 

10  :  30  to  10  :  45  Arithmetic  or  Numbers 

10  :  45  to  10  :  55  Rhythm  and  Folk  Dances 

10:  55  to  11:  15  Reading 

11 :  15  to  11 :  20  Relaxation 

11 :  20  to  11 :  40  Nature  Study 

11 :  40  to  12  :  00  Language  and  Writing 

12  :  00  to  1 :  30    Noon  Intermission 

1 :  30  to  1 :  45    Art 

1 :  45  to  2  :  05    Music  and  Rhythm 

2  :  05  to  2  :  20    History 

EIGHTH  GRADE   (Junior  High) 

9 :  00  to  9  :  30   Arithmetic 
9  :  30  to  9  :  50   Study 

9  :  50  to  10 :  30  Play  (dancing  for  girls  and  drill  for  boys 
three  days) 

10:30  to  11:  00  English 

11 :  00  to  11 :  20  Music 

11 :  20  to  11 :  25  A    short    game    followed    by  stretching 

exercises 
11:25  to  12:  00  Study 

12  :  00  to  1 :  30    Noon 
1 :  30  to  2  :  00    History  or  Civics 

2  :  00  to  3  :  00    Manual  training,  metal  work,  or  physics 

for  boys,  sewing  and  cooking  for  girls. 

3  :  00  to  4  :  00    Commercial   branches,   art,    printing,    or 

study 

Long  Play  and  Physical  Training  Periods.  It  will  be 
noted  that  a  forty-minute  period  each  morning  is  given 
to  play  and  physical  exercise  in  both  the  first  and  the 


294      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

eighth  grades.  Schools  are  rapidly  moving  in  this  direc- 
tion. Play  is  by  far  the  most  important  subject  in  the 
curriculum.  Teachers  should  guard  its  time  even  more 
jealously  than  they  have  insisted  upon  full  time  for  arith- 
metic and  grammar  in  the  past.  The  forty  minutes  a 
day  spent  in  vigorous  activity  and  in  learning  the  hun- 
dreds of  lessons  which  boys  and  girls  must  learn  to  get 
along  together  must  not  be  regarded  as  time  given  to  re- 
laxation. Vital  and  necessary  lessons  are  being  learned 
every  minute  children  are  together  in  these  more  or  less 
free  periods.  Consider;  for  example,  the  following  illus- 
tration, the  experience  of  a  city  superintendent  when  he 
was  a  boy  in  the  sixth  grade.  Hundreds  of  like  experi- 
ences are  to  be  found  on  every  playground  in  the 
country. 

A  Lesson  Learned  in  Play. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  during  the  hockey  season  it  was  the 
custom  to  search  for  sticks  with  which  to  play  this  game. 
When  I  was  about  eleven  years  old,  I  had  a  singular  experi- 
ence with  such  a  stick.  I  found  it  on  a  fallen  peach  tree  one 
afternoon,  and  as  soon  as  I  had  trimmed  it,  I  knew  that  I  had 
found  the  perfect  hockey  stick,  the  prize  in  which  all  boys 
delight  even  more  than  in  playing  the  game  itself. 

Early  the  next  morning  I  hurried  to  school  in  order  to 
exhibit  my  find.  The  first  boy  to  arrive  was  considerably 
older  than  I,  and  I  prized  his  judgment  very  much.  I  showed 
him  my  stick.  To  my  surprise  and  chagrin  he  did  not  react 
to  it  in  the  way  I  expected.  He  lifted  it,  shook  his  head,  and 
informed  me  that  it  was  too  heavy  and  commented  that  peach 
was  not  a  very  good  wood  anyway. 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES  AND   METHODS     295 

Seeing  that  his  words  and  attitude  had  had  the  intended 
effect  upon  me,  he  adroitly  changed  the  subject.  Then  after 
all  my  interest  and  ambitions  in  the  fine  stick  had  reached  a 
low  ebb,  he  turned  to  it  and  offered  to  "take  it  off  my  hands" 
for  ten  cents.  He,  being  much  larger  than  I,  might  be  able 
to  use  it  a  little.  I  was  willing  and  the  bargain  was  made. 

As  soon  as  the  other  boys  began  to  arrive,  the  boy  who  had 
purchased  my  club  became  the  center  of  attraction.  The 
stick  was,  without  doubt,  all  that  I  had  believed,  and  he  had 
imposed  upon  my  inability  to  trust  my  own  judgment.  Dur- 
ing the  entire  season  the  stick  which  I  had  found  and  had 
parted  with  so  foolishly  was  the  idol  of  every  boy  in  the  school. 

This  experience  taught  me  a  lesson  that  has  been  worth 
much  more  to  me  than  most  of  the  learning  I  acquired  in  the 
classroom.  It  and  many  others  like  it  have  made  me  socially 
able  to  take  care  of  myself  in  all  classes  of  company.  I  regard 
this  ability  as  essential  and  fundamental. 

It  is  not  the  intention  here  to  discuss  the  many  and 
varied  educational  values  of  play.  The  teacher  should 
understand  that  the  modern  school  is  considering  very 
seriously  its  obligation  in  this  respect.  Teachers  often 
worry  about  time  spent  in  such  a  way.  The  fact  that 
much  of  the  old-style  arithmetic  and  practically  all  of 
the  old  type  of  grammar  is  a  waste  of  time  does  not  seem 
to  bother  teachers  nearly  so  much  as  the  possibility  of 
time  being  wasted  in  play.  We  must  all  take  the  stand 
that  play  is  the  most  vital  element  in  our  school  program, 
and  we  must  "ive  up  to  our  ideas  in  this  matter  by  insist- 
ing that  the  child  play  as  well  as  study  and  recite.  Many 
educators  who  have  children  of  their  own  testify  that  they 
feel  quite  doubtful  whether  they  would  be  benefited  by 


296      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

the  work  of  the  school  if  it  were  not  for  the  social  and 
physical  development  which  comes  from  free  association 
during  the  mornings;  noons,  and  recesses. 

Recesses  and  Relaxation  Periods  Promote  Efficiency. 
There  have  been  many  experiments  both  in  American  and 
European  schools  which  illustrate  the  value  of  recesses 
to  regular  subjects  in  the  program.  The  increased  sup- 
ply of  oxygen  that  comes  from  healthy  activity  in  the  open 
air  together  with  the  better  flow  of  blood  and  lymph 
seem  to  give  the  child  energy  for  higher  achievement. 
Experiments  by  European  investigators  have  led  most 
countries  there  to  adopt  a  program  in  which  a  recess  of 
from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  follows  each  school  period. 
As  far  back  as  1881  a  French  law  provided  for  the  hour 
being  divided  into  a  forty-five-minute  recitation  period 
followed  by  a  fifteen-minute  recess.  In  1883  the  same 
program  was  tried  in  Hessia.  In  Bavaria  in  1891  a  like 
plan  was  adopted.  In  1905  the  Austrian  school  deputa- 
tion adopted  a  plan  with  a  ten-minute  recess  after  each 
school  period  except  the  second,  which  was  followed  by  a 
fifteen-minute  recess.  In  Saxony  in  1908  a  plan  some- 
what like  this  was  adopted,  and  in  1911  all  the  schools 
of  Prussia  were  placed  under  a  like  regulation.  In  the 
Danish  Folk  High  Schools  a  period  of  one  hour  each 
morning  is  given  to  physical  exercise.  The  tremendous 
influence  that  these  schoolfe  are  having  upon  the  social 
and  intellectual  development  of  rural  Denmark  would 
indicate  that  such  a  scheme  does  not  interfere  in  any  way 
with  intellectual  growth. 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES  AND   METHODS     297 

Beginning  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  with  Kraape- 
lin,  hundreds  of  experiments  have  been  made  to  formulate, 
if  possible,  tabulated  evidence  of  the  value  of  relaxation 
and  exercise  periods.  Thorndike  has  pointed  out  that 
many  of  these  experiments  were  unscientific  and  that  the 
experimenters  were  wrong  in  attempting  to  establish 
general  fatigue  as  the  cause  of  the  fall  in  achievement  by 
the  pupils  when  rests  were  not  provided.  Whether  they 
relieve  monotony  or  fatigue  is  not  important  in  the  pro- 
vision of  recesses  and  relaxation  periods.  The  fact  that 
they  are  essential  is  evident.  Experiments  point  to  un- 
questionable value  to  the  rest  of  the  program  of  a  suitable 
amount  of  time  devoted  to  play  and  exercise.  Fried- 
rich,  Laser,  Griesbach,  Janusche,  and  a  large  number  of 
others  in  Germany ;  Burnham  and  Thorndike  in  America  ; 
Winch  in  England ;  Binet  in  France ;  Schuyten  in  Bel- 
gium ;  Mosso  and  Bellei  in  Italy ;  Axel  Key  in  Sweden ; 
Teljatnik  in  Russia;  and  Burgerstein  in  Austria  are 
scientists  who  have  made  careful  experiments  proving 
the  value  of  recesses  to  the  work  done  during  the  regular 
periods. 

Longer  Noon  Periods.  In  many  schools  a  noon  period 
of  only  one  hour  is  allowed.  In  addition  to  this  teachers 
often  keep  children  at  school  for  part  of  this  noon  inter- 
mission. When  a  child  must  go  several  blocks,  eat  his 
lunch,  and  return  to  school  in  this  short  time,  a  physical 
and  mental  strain  is  likely  to  result.  Since  education  is 
solely  for  the  children,  and  since  health  is  the  most  fun- 
damental feature  of  all  education,  the  school  cannot  afford 


298       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

to  continue  such  a  practice.  In  many  places  and  es- 
pecially in  schools  in  the  suburbs  of  large  cities  the  teach- 
ers bring  lunches  and  regard  the  noon  intermission  as 
extra  time  which  they  are  forced  to  give  the  schools. 
The  shorter  they  can  make  it  the  better  it  is  for  them. 
These  same  teachers  dispense  with  the  regular  fifteen- 
minute  recess  whenever  they  have  the  slightest  excuse, 
and  "  let  out  early  "  in  the  evening.1 

In  order  to  enjoy  his  noon  meal  leisurely  and  not  have 
to  hurry  to  school  just  after  eating,  the  child  should  be 
permitted  a  full  hour  and  a  half  at  noon.  Two  hours 
would  be  better,  and  the  time  will  probably  come  when 
school  authorities,  considering  that  the  health  of  the 
children  is  paramount  to  personal  desires  of  teachers,  will 
provide  for  a  full  two-hour  noon  intermission  for  growing 
children. 

School  Furniture  Which  Stimulates  Activity.  The 
old-fashioned  desks  and  seats  which  filled  the  entire 
room  and  confined  the  children  in  a  doubled-up  position 
all  day  are  being  superseded  by  movable  chairs  and  mov- 
able tables.  These  are  usually  placed  around  the  edge 
of  the  room  and  the  center  is  left  open  for  motor  activ- 
ities. In  this  open  space  the  children  play  games,  stand 
or  sit  on  the  floor,  or  gather  about  the  teacher  to  hear  a 
story  or  to  take  part  in  a  recitation.  These  movable 
tables  and  chairs  were  first  introduced  in  the  kindergarten. 
At  present  many  schools  have  adopted  them  for  the  first 

1  The  teacher  should  never  keep  a  child  in  at  recess  for  punishment. 
This  is  injurious  and  slovenly  discipline.  Many  cities  forbid  it. 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES   AND   METHODS      299, 

grade,  a  few  have  them  in  the  first,  second,  and  third 
grades,  and  one  or  two  schools  have  the  tables  and  chairs 
through  all  eight  grades.  The  new  adjustable  seat  and 
desk  are  not  as  hygienic  as  tables  and  chairs,  for  the  point 
to  be  emphasized  here  is  that  no  seat  can  be  constructed 
which  will  be  satisfactory  for  a  growing  child  to  sit  in  all 
day  long.  The  opportunity  for  movement  must  be  pro- 
vided. The  movable  tables  and  chairs  solve  this  prob- 
lem. They  would,  of  course,  be  as  bad  as  any  seat  and 
desk  if  the  children  were  required  to  sit  in  one  place  for 
long  periods.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  see  that  the 
children  do  not  sit  overlong.  With  proper  movable  furni- 
ture it  is  possible  to  make  a  program  and  to  use  methods 
which  stimulate  a  sufficient  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
children.  Hygienic  chairs  and  tables  can  be  purchased 
at  less  ^expense  than  seats  and  desks.  All  school  sup- 
ply houses  have  them  for  sale.  Thus  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  soon  become  standard  equipment. 

Less  Sedentary  Methods 

An    Experiment   with   Feeble-minded    Children.     In 

the  school  for  feeble-minded  at  Waverly,  Massachusetts, 
the  experiment  of  allowing  the  children  to  stand  or  sit 
at  their  tables  while  they  worked  was  tried.  It  was  soon 
evident  that  during  the  short  periods  in  which  they  were 
required  to  work  indoors  the  children  preferred  to  stand. 
After  a  time  none  of  the  children  would  sit,  and  the 
classes  were  conducted  standing.  This  is  one  of  the 
many  advantages  which  feeble-minded  children  have  over 


300       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

normal  children.  A  child  should  sit  only  in  order  to 
rest.  As  school  is  maintained  in  many  places  to-day  the 
children  are  made  lazy  by  being  forced  to  sit  quietly  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  school  day. 

School  Subjects  May  Be  Taught  by  Active  Methods. 
All  the  regular  sub j  ects  taught  in  our  schools  at  the  present 
time  may  be  so  organized  and  treated  as  to  be  learned  as 
well  or  better  than  they  have  ever  been  and  at  the  same 
time  be  far  less  sedentary.  The  American  teacher  has  a 
great  advantage  in  having  the  use  of  a  blackboard.  With 
hygienic  crayon  and  erasers  half  the  children  may  be 
kept  working  at  the  board  in  all  subjects  which  ordinarily 
confine  them  to  their  seats.  Groups  of  children  may 
gather  about  the  teacher  and  discuss  a  lesson,  standing  as 
well  as  sitting.  Reading  and  literature  lessons  may  be 
organized  into  informal  dramatizations  and  from  five  to 
ten  children,  according  to  the  number  of  parts,  may  be 
allowed  to  stand  and  read  while  they  act  in  movement, 
voice,  and  gesture  the  parts  they  play. 

Illustrations  in  Arithmetic.  Second  grade :  In  learn- 
ing the  combinations  to  twenty,  large  dominoes,  about 
four  by  eight  inches,  were  used.  The  teacher  made 
them  from  ordinary  inch  boards.  The  spots  were  about 
one  half  inch  in  diameter.  The  children  gathered  in 
a  circle  upon  the  floor  and  as  each  child  played  he  re- 
ceived credit  for  all  the  spots  on  both  ends  of  the  column. 
The  entire  class  was  responsible  to  see  that  he  received 
the  proper  credit.  He  wrote  his  credits  in  a  vertical 
column  on  the  board,  and  at  the  end  of  the  game,  he 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES   AND   METHODS      301 

added  his  column  while  the  rest  of  the  class  gathered  about 
him  to  see  that  he  did  it  correctly. 

Fourth  grade :  In  the  corner  of  the  schoolroom  a  play 
store  with  a  counter  and  shelves  was  located.  The  shelves 
were  supplied  with  empty  merchandise  boxes,  and  toy 
money  was  provided  for  the  children.  Four  clerks  and 
four  customers  could  work  at  a  time,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  children  were  delegated  to  be  responsible  for 
each  clerk  and  his  customer.  After  a  few  rapid  trans- 
actions the  clerks  and  customers  were  changed.  Any 
teacher  who  tries  such  a  scheme  will  not  only  be  teach- 
ing in  a  less  sedentary  way  but  will  soon  see  how  little 
his  regular  arithmetic  work  is  functioning  when  the 
children  are  asked  to  make  ordinary  simple  transactions. 

Eighth  grade :  The  teacher  made  specific  plans  to  use 
the  blackboard  for  half  of  the  class  each  day.  The 
children  at  the  board  were  assigned  special  problems 
which  brought  out  their  weaknesses  so  that  the  teacher 
could  correct  them.  There  is  little  advantage  gained 
by  merely  sending  groups  to  the  board.  A  specific 
plan  must  be  made  to  utilize  the  board  work  to  ad- 
vantage. Then  the  children  will  be  benefited  both  by 
the  less  sedentary  method  and  by  the  organization  of 
the  work. 

In  mensuration  work  many  courses  of  study  c'all  for 
the  measuring  of  the  rooms,  buildings,  and  grounds  as 
part  of  the  work.  This  not  only  makes  mensuration 
more  concrete  but  also  furnishes  arithmetic  which  does 
not  demand  constant  sitting. 


302      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Informal  Attitude  in  Teaching.  Strain  is  avoided  by 
letting  the  children  feel  that  their  unconscious  and  trivial 
movements  are  not  regarded  as  important  to  school 
discipline.  A  child  should  feel  that  he  may  yawn,  stretch 
his  muscles,  wiggle,  or  turn  around  now  and  then  without 
in  any  way  interfering  with  the  work  of  the  teacher  or 
that  of  the  school.  He  should  not  feel  that  he  must  sit 
rigidly  in  his  seat  while  explanations  are  being  made  or 
that  he  must  sit  up  straight  in  his  seat  with  his  hands 
locked  together  on  his  desk  when  he  has  finished  a  task 
and  has  nothing  to  do.  Just  as  soon  as  possible  children 
should  be  allowed  to  talk  to  each  other  when  they  find 
it  necessary.  They  should  understand,  of  course,  that 
they  must  not  interfere  with  each  other's  work.  A 
child  should  not  have  to  ask  the  teacher  when  he 
wants  to  borrow  a  pencil  or  a  knife,  or  when  he  finds 
it  necessary  to  leave  the  room.  Discipline  should  mean 
a  feeling  of  .freedom  on  the  part  of  the  children 
and  should  be  positive  and  not  negative  or  confining. 
It  usually  takes  some  time  to  develop  a  class  or  a 
school  to  this  stage  of  discipline,  but  there  are  many 
good  schools  where  it  has  been  achieved.  Discipline 
and  restraint  become  minor  issues  in  such  schools. 
These  schools  are  more  efficient,  of  course,  than  the  old 
type  of  school,  which  makes  discipline  its  largest  prob- 
lem. From  the  standpoint  of  achievement,  discipline 
is  merely  friction  and  lost  motion.  It  is  more  or 
less  necessary  but  should  be  dispensed  with  whenever 
possible. 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES   AND   METHODS    303 

Instruction  Out-of-doors 

The  Necessity  for  Out-of-door  Life.  Activity,  both 
mental  and  physical,  is  at  its  best  when  not  restrained 
within  doors.  Man  has  evolved  in  the  great  world  out- 
side. His  constitution  is  not  made  to  withstand  con- 
tinued confinement.  This  is  especially  true  during  the 
period  of  formation  and  growth.  The  growing  child 
should  spend  every  minute  he  can  in  the  open  air,  and 
we  need  not  fear  for  his  education  if  we  keep  him  there 
most  of  the  time.  Children  naturally  love  the  great  world 
out-of-doors.  This  love  is  merely  the  functioning  of  their 
instincts  of  self-protection.  The  increased  activity  which 
children  show  when  out-of-doors  is  a  good  reason  for 
carrying  on  school  as  much  as  possible  outside  of  the 
schoolhouse.  Many  of  the  magnificent  brick  school  build- 
ings built  a  few  years  ago  stand  to-day  as  monuments 
of  the  barbarism  which  parents  and  school  authorities 
practiced  upon  growing  children.  Our  modern  knowl- 
edge of  sanitation  condemns  them.  The  great  white 
plague  is  nothing  more  than  the  result  of  overconfine- 
ment.  It  is  worth  the  consideration  of  every  teacher 
that  the  most  prevalent  disease  of  the  teaching  pro- 
fession is  tuberculosis,  occasioned,  no  doubt,  by  living 
in  schoolhouses.1 

If  the  early  training  of  children  has  so  powerful  an 

effect  upon  them  all  through  life,  should  we  not  first  of 

all  cultivate  this  love  of  the  out-of-doors  which  is  natural 

to  every  child  ?     Should  we  not  strive  to  fix  the  outdoor 

1  Terman,  L.  M.     The  Teacher's  Health.     Houghton  Mifflin. 


304      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

habit  and  do  everything  in  our  power  to  cause  the  child 
to  want  to  live  in  the  open,  to  find  his  pleasures  there, 
and  to  acquire  learning  and  health  at  the  same  time  ? 
Should  the  school  make  such  an  aim  the  central  feature  of 
the  curriculum,  we  should  soon  grow  a  race  that  would 
have  little  need  for  doctors  and  patent  medicines.  , 

Sick  Children  Often  Learn  Faster  and  Grow  Healthy 
When  Taken  Out-of-doors.  Hundreds  of  experiments 
with  open  air  schools  *  have  proved  that  sick  and  un- 
healthy children  learn  more  rapidly  and  increase  in  vigor 
when  allowed  to  work  in  the  open  air.  A  university  pro- 
fessor says  he  is  able  to  keep  his  eight-year-old  boy  in 
fair  health  only  by  insisting  upon  his  playing  out-of- 
doors  all  day  Saturday  and  Sunday.  The  child  comes 
home  each  Friday  evening  in  a  worn-out  condition.  On 
Mondays  his  vitality  is  greatly  increased.  During  vaca- 
tions his  health  improves  greatly.  This  is  a  special 
case,  it  must  be  admitted,  and  the  ordinary  child  prob- 
ably goes  along  without  the  ill-effects  of  overconfinement 
coming  to  the  surface.  Searching  examinations  usually 
disclose  them,  however,  and  they  are  all  the  worse  be- 
cause hidden.  Teachers  can  find  no  excuse  for  keeping 
children  within  doors  from  nine  to  twelve  and  from 
one  to  three  except  that  tradition  demands  it. 

The  open  air  school  is  a  long  step  in  the  right  direction. 

It  has  been  used  mostly  thus  far  for  children  who  were 

admittedly  too  sick  to  undergo  the  confinement  of  the 

ordinary  school.     In  every  case  wonderful  improvement 

1  See  Watt's  Open  Air. 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES  AND   METHODS    305 

has  been  noted.  If  open  air  is  a  good  cure  for  so  many 
forms  of  child  ailment;  then  why  is  it  not  a  good  pre- 
ventive for  sickness?  Why  is  it  not  also  the  best  tonic 
that  those  who  need  to  grow  can  have?  There  is  no 
definite  way  of  proving  these  points  experimentally,  but 
it  seems  established  that  healthy  children  should  do 
more  and  better  work  out-of-doors  than  indoors. 

Out-of-door  Teaching  Must  Be  Well  Organized  and 
Definite.  Teachers  are  likely  to  find  that  children  can- 
not be  managed  as  easily  outside  of  the  schoolroom  as 
they  can  inside  of  it.  This  is  often  due  to  the  fact  that  a 
pupil  often  thinks  his  schoolroom  attitude  should  be 
dropped  as  soon  as  he  gets  outside  the  door.  He  is  rea- 
sonably willing  to  study  geography,  history,  and  like  sub- 
jects so  long  as  he  has  to  stay  in  a  schoolroom,  although  even 
inside  it  is  not  always  easy  for  the  teacher ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  schoolroom  is  left  behind,  the  lessons  studied  there 
are  to  be  left  behind  also.  This  speaks  badly  for  school 
work,  and  some  persons  have  described  it  as  being  fit 
to  exist  only  when  confined  within  "  four  brick  walls." 
An  outdoor  class  now  and  then  is  valuable  in  this  con- 
nection if  for  no  other  reason ;  children  should  be  made 
to  understand  that  a  school  subject  may  be  worth  while 
out  in  the  sunshine  and  is  in  no  way  confined  to  work  with 
a  textbook  inside  the  school  building.  Class  work  out-of- 
doors  is  one  of  the  first  steps  in  making  the  school  con- 
form to  the  principle  that  education  is  life. 

In  planning  an  out-of-door  lesson  the  teacher  must 
first  of  all  be  sure  that  every  child  will  have  something 


306      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

to  occupy  him  for  the  entire  period.  Inside,  when  a 
child  has  nothing  to  do/ he  can  be  confined  in  his  seat. 
Out  in  the  open  it  is  impossible  to  confine  him.  It  is 
much  harder  to  discipline  a  class  out-of-doors  than  within 
the  schoolroom.  The  inner  impulses  of  the  children, 
the  many  distracting  influences  of  the  great  world  about, 
and  the  tendency  to  act  differently  outside  of  school 
from  inside  will  all  have  to  be  adequately  met  by  the 
plans  of  the  teacher.  The  following  is  an  illustration  of 
a  plan  of  a  sixth-grade  teacher  which  succeeded  : 

I  resolved  to  take  my  class  out-of-doors  where  we  could 
both  be  gaining  in  health  and  studying  nature  first  hand  every 
day  that  I  could  adequately  conduct  the  work  there.  After 
my  first  attempt  at  going  to  find  a  bird  nest  which  the  boys 
knew  about,  I  resolved  that  I  would  have  ample  material 
on  hand  to  keep  every  child  interested  and  busy  during  our 
entire  trip  and  that  every  individual  should  understand  just 
what  his  duties  were  before  we  left  the  room.  I  also  talked 
with  the  children  about  our  opportunities  to  go  out-of-doors 
for  work  now  and  then  and  made  them  realize  that  if  we  were 
not  alert  and  busy,  persons  passing  would  think  that  they 
were  not  receiving  proper  training.  I  planned  good  lessons 
in  other  subjects,  such  as  arithmetic  and  English,  and  said 
that  those  who  did  not  want  to  study  the  subject  at  hand 
and  give  attention  every  minute  of  the  time  we  were  out 
could  remain  inside  and  study  the  regular  way.  It  was 
necessary  to  require  children  to  remain  inside  only  once  or 
twice  during  the  term,  but  I  found  that  I  must  plan  my 
subject  and  know  it  more  specifically  than  when  presenting  it 
indoors. 

Some  illustrative  lessons  were : 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES  AND   METHODS    307 

Evergreens  and  conifers :  I  remembered  that  in  botany 
I  had  studied  some  about  evergreens  and  conifers.  On  my 
way  to  school  I  noticed  that  there  were  several  varieties  of 
these  trees  on  some  vacant  lots  right  next  to  the  school  yard. 
I  knew  that  these  trees  could  be  closely  connected  with  the 
geography  work,  for  there  were  several  kinds  of  pine,  they 
probably  contained  pitch,  and  they  illustrated  beautifully 
the  struggle  for  existence,  adaptations  in  leaves  and  branch 
forms,  etc.  I  was  surprised,  however,  at  the  amount  of  study 
it  took  for  me  to  be  able  to  take  the  children  into  this  grove 
of  trees  and  teach  them  first  hand.  I  collected  pictures,  went 
to  the  lumber  yards  and  obtained  pamphlets  and  catalogues, 
studied  boards,  and  read  in  botanies.  The  work  paid,  how- 
ever, and  I  soon  collected  material  to  serve  for  four  or  five  out- 
of-door  lessons  which  resulted  in  a  better  acquaintance  with 
the  children  and  a  great  burst  of  interest  on  their  part  in  all 
school  work. 

We  studied  the  different  kinds  of  conifers  and  learned  to 
tell  them  apart.  We  studied  and  read  of  the  products  of 
these  trees.  We  went  to  a  lumber  yard  and  studied  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  boards.  Our  reading  was  much  more  effective 
as  a  result. 

Sugar:  As  a  culmination  to  a  study  of  this  industry  we 
visited  a  sugar  factory.  A  man  in  the  community  who  was 
very  well  acquainted  with  all  the  processes  of  the  manufacture 
of  sugar  was  induced  to  go  along  and  explain  to  the  class. 

Mushrooms :  I  noticed  that  there  were  many  varieties  of 
edible  mushrooms  growing  close  to  the  schoolhouse.  I  ob- 
tained books  (there  is  a  government  bulletin  on  mushroom 
culture)  and  learned  to  detect  the  different  kinds.  I  talked 
to  the  children  about  them,  and  one  Friday  afternoon  we  went 
to  a  place  where  I  knew  they  grew  and  the  children  discovered 
and  discussed  the  varieties.  During  the  entire  remainder 


308       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

of  the  year  the  effect  of  this  trip  was  evident.  The  interest 
in  mushrooms  never  entirely  died  out.  Now  and  then  a 
child  would  ask  me  a  question  about  them  and  tell  me  of  some 
new  variety  or  new  bed. 

One  day  I  noticed  an  artist  at  work  painting  a  scene.  This 
gave  me  an  idea :  why  could  not  children  go  out-of-doors  to 
do  art  work  now  and  then.  In  the  spring  I  carried  this  plan 
into  execution  and  found  that  the  children  responded  beauti- 
fully. I  later  used  the  same  method  in  English.  I  took  the 
class  out  into  the  school  yard  and  told  them  that  they  might 
describe  something  they  saw.  I  had  often  done  this  with 
pictures  inside  the  schoolroom  and  I  soon  learned  that  it  can 
be  done  even  better  by  going  outside. 

By  managing  my  work  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  every 
child  feel  that  he  was  doing  even  better  school  work  when  out- 
of-doors,  and  by  planning  definitely  and  carefully,  I  was  able 
to  avoid  criticism  by  the  community  for  my  innovation.  I 
received  many  comments  of  the  complimentary  type,  for  I  saw 
to  it  that  no  one  could  assert  that  the  class  was  not  in  perfect 
order  and  working  diligently  every  minute  that  we  were  out. 
Many  persons  who  would  never  have  seen  our  work  stopped 
to  look  and  listen. 

Illustrations  of  Outdoor  Work  in  Regular  School  Subjects 

Geography.  In  the  study  of  soils,  rivers,  bays,  capes, 
peninsulas,  and  islands,  the  teacher  will  find  good  illus- 
trative materials  in  any  small  stream  or  rivulet.  In 
large  cities  there  may  be  none  near  enough  to  visit,  but 
in  the  majority  of  schools  very  little  difficulty  will  be 
experienced  in  discovering  such  a  stream.  This  work 
is  done  out-of-doors  in  many  schools  to-day.  The 
Iowa  State  Teachers  College  recently  published  a  bulle- 


LESS   SEDENTARY    PRACTICES  AND   METHODS     309 

tin  on  rural  schools  in  that  state  with  illustrative  pictures 
showing  country  children  studying  geography  first  hand. 

If  the  teacher  wants  to  make  the  map  work  in  the 
school  more  impressive,  the  best  way  to  do  this  will  be 
to  increase  the  size  of  the  maps.  The  bigger  the  rep- 
resentation, within  limits  of  use  and  perspective,  the 
better  from  the  child  viewpoint. 

If  the  children  will  make  a  map  of  the  United  States 
covering  their  entire  school  yard,  and  if  they  locate  the 
most  important  places  with  stakes  or  natural  landmarks, 
they  will  have  a  more  instructive  representation  than 
could  possibly  be  made  on  a  blackboard.  Working 
with  this  big  map,  most  of  the  geography  of  the  United 
States  can  be  taught  out-of-doors.  Rivers,  mountains, 
and  all  natural  features  can  be  made.  The  coast  lines 
can  be  put  in  with  lime  such  as  is  used  in  marking  off 
tennis  courts  and  football  fields.  A  sack  of  air-slaked 
lime  and  a  tin  can  are  all  that  are  necessary  for  this.  Les- 
sons in  history  and  geography  can  be  taught  on  such  a 
map,  and  the  children  can  be  taken  out  in  the  yard 
every  day  for  this  work. 

Recently  a  map  of  the  European  war  zone  was  de- 
veloped by  an  eighth-grade  class.  From  Berlin  were 
located  Paris,  London,  Petrograd,  Warsaw,  Lodz,  Ant- 
werp, the  Kiel  canal,  all  the  important  British  cities, 
Vienna,  Rome,  and  the  cities  of  the  Italian  earthquake. 
The  children  learned  to  work  away  at  their  map  and  did 
not  pay  any  attention  to  the  disturbances  which  arose 
from  people  passing  by. 


310      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

The  teacher  of  this  class  said  that  she  learned  more 
European  geography  from  teaching  in  this  manner  than 
she  did  in  any  geography  class  in  which  she  had  ever 
studied.  The  children  had  excellent  notions  of  relative 
distances  and  positions,  for  any  one  of  them  could  imag- 
ine that  he  was  standing  at  Berlin,  could  point  to  any 
other  important  European  city,  and  could  also  give  a 
fairly  accurate  estimate  of  the  distances.  If  he  was  told 
to  imagine  himself  at  London,  Paris,  or  Vienna,  he  could 
do  as  well.  This  result  came  from  the  actual  experience 
he  had  in  walking  between  these  places  in  locating  the 
various  events  of  importance  that  were  daily  happening 
in  the  war,  and  also  from  the  splendid  picture  of  the 
entire  continent  that  the  large  outdoor  map  furnished  him. 

Ten  miles  to  the  yard  makes  a  good  scale  for  such 
work,  and  all  the  children  should  be  supplied  with  yard- 
sticks. If  the  map  is  made  on  a  smaller  scale,  and  some- 
times the  school  yard  will  demand  this,  twenty  miles  to 
the  yard  makes  a  good  ratio.  If  the  map  goes  beyond 
the  school  grounds,  the  teacher  can  usually  get  permission 
to  drive  stakes.  It  is  better  not  to  put  one  map  upon 
another.  The  children  constantly  live  with  the  map,  and 
their  imagery  is  confused  if  two  maps  are  put  in  the  same 
place.  For  comparison,  of  course,  this  may  be  done. 

One  main  trouble  comes  from  the  work  being  destroyed 
by  the  children  out  of  school  hours.  This  may  be  over- 
come by  locating  places  with  stout  stakes  about  six  inches 
long.  These  are  driven  into  the  ground  until  they  are 
just  visible.  It  is  not  necessary  to  label  them,  for  the 


LESS   SEDENTARY   PRACTICES  AND   METHODS     311 

child  should  know  what  place  the  stake  represents  with- 
out looking  at  the  name. 

Physical  geography  cannot  be  taught  very  well  from 
a  textbook,  and  if  the  relief  maps  are  made  out-of-doors 
on  a  large  scale,  they  will  be  much  more  impressive. 
Take,  for  example,  North  America.  A  sixth-grade  class 
can  construct  in  a  few  days  a  great  map  forty  feet  long 
showing  all  the  natural  features.  Here  the  main  natural 
lay  of  the  land  from  Alaska  to  the  Panama  canal  can  be 
taken  in  one  grand  visual  picture. 

History.  History  work  out-of-doors  is  quite  profitable. 
When  the  large  maps  are  made  in  geography  the  children 
may  dramatize  such  historical  scenes  as  are  feasible. 
Braddock's  Defeat  made  an  excellent  outdoor  lesson  for 
a -seventh-grade  class.  When  the  boys  are  making  their 
snow  forts  they  can  be  stimulated  to  make  them  repre- 
sent, on  a  fairly  accurate  scale,  many  places  that  are 
studied  in  history  until  they  often  go  beyond  all  require- 
ments in  their  study  of  historical  situations  to  represent. 

In  the  lower  grades  Indian  life  may  be  represented  by 
constructing  weapons,  tools,  clothing,  and  wigwams  out- 
of-doors. 

Nature  Study.  This  subject  should  be  a  regular  round 
of  out-of-door  trips.  The  only  way  to  learn  nature  is  to 
go  to  her. 

Civics.  Trips  to  water  reservoirs  where  such  features 
as  drainage,  pressure,  and  hygiene,  which  had  to  be 
considered  by  the  authorities  in  establishing  them,  may 
be  seen  and  discussed;  trips  to  local  industrial  and 


312       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

manufacturing  establishments ;  trips  to  civic  buildings, 
bring  the  child  in  contact  with  the  real  civic  life  of  his 
community.  They  are  being  used  in  a  great  many  places. 
Out-of-door  Recitations.  When  warm  weather  comes 
in  the  spring,  many  schools  find  it  profitable  to  take 
classes  outside  for  study  periods  and  recitations.  On  a 
hot  day  a  group  of  children  gathered  on  the  grass  under 
a  tree  for  an  arithmetic  drill,  a  reading  lesson,  or  a  story 
is  much  more  in  harmony  with  all  that  is  best  in  educa- 
tion than  the  same  group  sweating  over  their  tasks  in  a 
stuffy  room. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE 

The  Inadequacy  of  the  Old  Formal  Class  Instruction. 

The  traditional  "  class  "  and  the  old  formal  method  of 
recitation  do  not  suit  the  demands  of  either  the  individual 
or  society.  Reforms  are  necessary  from  both  standpoints. 
The  old  style  class  was  a  failure  for  the  following  reasons  : 

1.  The  group  was  not  organized  so  that  social  cooper- 
ation and  stimulation  could  be  brought  into  play.     The 
class  was  an  artificial  organization,  based  primarily  upon 
the  time  the  different  members  entered  school.     Their 
aims  in  life,  the  social  needs  of  the  community,  and  their 
social  instincts  were  entirely  ignored  by  this   artificial 
method  of  grouping.     In  teaching  the •"  class  "  the  teacher 
usually  went  about  "  covering  "  a  course  of  study.     It  was 
assigned  and  presented  in  detail.     The  result  was  that 
neither  the  individual  nor  any  special  group  received  much 
benefit. 

2.  Many  pupils   because   of   their  advanced   abilities 
were  injured  and  made  lazy  by  listening  to  explanations 
which   they   did   not   need.     Other   individuals,    after   a 
few  attempts,  became  hopelessly  lost  because  they  were 
either  slow  or  unfitted  for  the  work.     This  feature  of  the 
class  has  been  likened  by  Frederick  Burk  to  the  lockstep 

313 


314      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

of  prisoners.  "  There  are  misfit  schools,"  he  says, 
"  misfit  texts  and  studies,  misfit  dogmas  and  tradition 
of  pedants  and  pedantry.  There  are  misfit  homes,  mis- 
fit occupations  and  diversions.  In  fact,  there  are  all 
kinds  and  conditions  of  misfit  clothing  for  children,  but 
in  the  nature  of  things  there  can  be  no  misfit  childr&Q,." 

3.  The  results  of  the  formal  class  method  of  organ- 
ization are  few,  indefinite,  and  are  unlikely  to  function. 
Since  the  child  is  taught  only  in  the  classroom,  he  usually 
drops  what  he  has  learned  there  when  he  goes  out  into 
the  real  world. 

4.  The    educational    scheme,    according    to    Holmes,1 
"  has  been   organized  to   fit  the  average  normal   child. 
Until  very  recently  it  has  never  occurred  to  educators  to 
differentiate  the  educational  scheme  to  fit  different  de- 
grees of  mental  endowment."     It  might  be  well  to  add 
that  there  is  no  such  creature  as  the  average  child.     The 
average,  being  the  result  of  a  mathematical  computation, 
can,  of  course,  apply  to  no  special  individual.     It  is  a 
hypothetical  term. 

These  and  many  other  defects  of  the  traditional  formal 
class  recitation  have  led  educators  and  administrators  to 
develop  methods  of  teaching  and  organizing  which  will 
more  nearly  reach  the  ends  for  which  education  is  de- 
signed. It  would  almost  seem  as  if  the  old  style  or- 
ganization considered  that  the  child  and  the  community 
were  made  for  the  school.  To-day  we  are  stressing  the 
fact  that  the  school  must  be  adjusted  to  the  community 

1  School  Organization  and  the  Individual  Child.     Worcester,  Mass. 


THE   INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  315 

and  to  the  individual  as  a  representative  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Social-Individual  Reforms.  The  traditional  class  is 
being  reorganized  along  two  lines :  (l)  adjustment  to 
individual  needs  in  selection  and  presentation  of  school 
work  to  meet  the  needs  of  every  child,  no  matter  how 
remote  the  corner  in  which  he  may  sit  or  how  different 
he  is  from  the  rest  of  the  group  ;  and  (2)  the  use  of  natural 
community  situations  and  group  life  to  stimulate  greater 
activity  and  interest  on  the  part  of  each  individual,  and 
the  cooperation  of  different  individuals  in  solving  prob- 
lems which  arise  from  social  needs. 

There  is  no  conflict  between  social  and  individual  instruc- 
tion. The  demand  from  the  social  side  is  that  every  in- 
dividual be  given  opportunity  to  develop  along  the  lines 
in  which  he  may  function  best  both  for  himself  and  for 
society.  Whatever  is  best  for  society  is  best  for  the  in- 
dividual in  the  long  run,  and  whatever  is  best  for  the  in- 
dividual is  best  for  society.  This  is  a  very  difficult  and 
complex  piece  of  educational  philosophy  to  administer. 
But  it  is  so  important  and  its  solution  is  so  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  highest  success  of  the  school  that  its  com- 
plex nature  must  not  prevent  attempts  at  solutions.  Ad- 
ministrators who  have  felt  that  they  must  sacrifice  in- 
dividuals to  school  machinery  in  the  name  of  society  have 
been  mistaken,  and  those  who  declare  that  there  is  no 
need  for  social  adjustments  among  individuals  in  training 
are  equally  wrong. 

The  above  propositions  may  be  considered  by  many 


316       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

as  attacking  a  "  man  of  straw/'  in  that  no  one  of  im- 
portance in  education  has  found  opposition  between 
the  individual  and  society.  However,  there  are  differ- 
ent groups  who  have  preached  the  individual  and 
have  said  little  or  nothing  of  socialization,  and  there  are 
many  more  groups  who  have  talked  of  society  and  social- 
ization and  have  been  very  vague  as  to  the  position  of 
the  individual  in  social  adjustments.  The  facts  in  the 
case  should  be  clearly  stated  so  that  no  appearance  of  a 
conflict  need  occur.  Persons  who  speak  of  socialization 
should  not  cease  to  speak  of  the  need  of  individualization, 
and  the  individualists  must  reciprocate.  It  is  also  time 
that  the  different  means  of  reaching  these  two  ends  should 
be  considered  in  relation  to  each  other  and  practical 
methods  presented  to  the  teacher. 

One  of  the  best  statements  on  the  individual  side  has 
been  made  by  a  man  whose  social  viewpoint  cannot  be 
questioned.  The  following  quotations  are  taken  from 
Suzallo's  introduction  to  Thorndike's  "  Individuality." 

"  As  a  result  of  these  major  forces,  and  of  some  other 
minor  ones  at  work  in  our  professional  thought,  the  re- 
action against  the  blight  of  uniformity  in  teaching  has 
deepened.  It  has  expressed  itself  positively  in  the  de- 
mand for  administrative  and  instructional  means  that 
will  produce  an  increased  regard  for  individuality. 

"  When  the  supervision  of  teachers  became  as  inflexible 
and  as  unindividual  as  the  teaching  of  children,  the  prob- 
lem of  individuality  in  education  became  an  acute  profes- 
1  Riverside  Monograph.  Houghton  Mifflin,  1911,  p.  56. 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL   BALANCE  317 

sional  one.  Particularly  was  this  true  in  large  city  school 
systems,  where  the  mere  bigness  of  the  situation  obscured 
both  the  individual  teacher  and  the  individual  child." 

v_ 

Factors  to  be  Considered  in  Individualizing  Instruction 

Individual  Variations   and  Differences.     One   of  the 

best  summaries  of  scientific  investigations  of  individual 
differences  has  been  made  by  Thorndike.1  The  extent 
and  nature  of  these  differences  have  been  described  by 
him  in  the  statement : 

'  If  we  could  thus  adequately  describe  each  of  a  mil- 
lion human  beings  —  if,  for  each  one,  we  could  prophesy 
just  what  the  response  would  be  to  every  possible  situation 
of  lif% —  the  million  men  would  be  found  to  differ  widely. 
Probably  no  two  out  of  the  million  would  be  so  alike  in 
mental  nature  as  to  be  indistinguishable  by  one  who 
knew  their  entire  natures.  Each  has  an  individuality 
which  marks  him  off  from  other  men.  Each  has  not 
only  a  mind,  the  mind  of  the  human  species,  but  also  his 
own  specialized,  particular,  readily  distinguishable  mind. 
Even  in  bodily  nature,  indeed,  men  differ  so  much  that  it 
would  be  hard  to  find,  amongst  a  million,  two  whose 
features  are  just  alike,  who  are  equally  susceptible  to  every 
disease,  who  have  identical  bodily  habits.  The  differences 
in  intellect  and  character  are  far  greater." 

The  various  ways  in  which  Thorndike  found  individuals 
to  differ : 

1  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  3,  and  Individuality.     Riverside  Mono- 
graph. 


318      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

1.  Differences   in    single   traits.     In    this   respect    in- 
dividuals differ  in  every  trait  that  is  known  to  the  human 
race.     In  any  group  of  one  age,  no  matter  what  the  pre- 
vious training  has  been  in  school,  individuals  will  differ 
all  the  way  from  lowest  capacity  to  ten  or  twenty  times 
this  amount  or  quality. 

2.  Differences  in  complex  traits.     When  single  traits 
are  combined,  and  this  is  always  the  case  in  mental  effort, 
the  differences  are  multiplied  in  ratio  to  the  complexity 
of  the  function. 

In  school  subjects  Burk 1  found  the  following  vari- 
ations :  In  primary  reading  children  in  the  same  grade 
took  from  33  to  111  days  to  complete  the  "Free  and 
Treadwell  Primer."  Of  75  pupils  in  the  high  first  grade 
the  Progressive  Road  to  Reading,  Book  I,  was  finished 
by  the  most  rapid  child  in  14  days  and  by  the  slow- 
est in  180  days.  In  the  low  second  grade  the  most 
rapid  of  60  pupils  finished  Brooks'  Second  Reader  in 
17  days  while  the  slowest  took  182  days.  In  the  high 
fourth  grade  the  most  rapid  of  43  pupils  completed 
Stepping  Stones  to  Literature,  Book  5,  in  two  days  while 
it  took  the  slowest  106  days. 

In  arithmetic  like  variations  were  found.  Of  76  pupils 
in  the  same  grade  it  took  the  most  rapid  15  days  and  the 
slowest  120  days  to  complete  addition.  Of  54  pupils  in  the 
same  grade  it  took  the  most  rapid  26  days  and  the  slowest 
145  days  to  complete  subtraction  and  multiplication. 

1  Two  Years  in  Individual  Instruction.  California  State  Normal,  San 
Francisco. 


THE   INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  319 

Burk  goes  on  to  show  that  variations  as  great  were 
found  in  the  progress  of  children  in  the  same  grade  in 
geography,  in  American  history,  in  language,  and  in  gram- 
mar. 

Variations  in  quality  of  school  work  are  as  great  or 
even  greater  than  those  in  quantity.  Thorndike  1  makes 
the  following  statement,  based  upon  his  observations  and 
investigations  :  "It  is  by  no  means  very  hard  to  find  seven- 
year-olds  who  can  do  intellectual  work  at  which  one  in 
twenty  seventeen-year-olds  would  fail." 

These  large  individual  differences  are  not  so  much  due 
to  the  methods  used  in  school  as  to  outside  influences. 
The  experimental  work  of  Rice  and  others  has  definitely 
shown  this  fact.2  These  differences  are  due  chiefly  to 
heredity,  while  to  a  lesser  extent  they  are  due  to  outside  en- 
vironment. Thorndike  has  listed  statistical  studies  to 
show  that  abilities' in  spelling,  art,  and  music,  and  judi- 
cial  abilities  are  inherited,  and  quotes,  with  slight  criti- 
cisms, Pearson's  studies  which  show  that  vivacity,  self- 
assertiveness,  introspection,  popularity,  conscientiousness, 
temper,  general  ability,  and  good  or  bad  handwriting 
are  inherited  and  also  are  influenced  to  a  large  extent 
by  home  conditions.  Goddard3  and  others  have  def- 
initely shown  that  subnormal  mentality  is  inherited, 
and  that  the  school  can  never  bring  the  feeble-minded 
up  to  normal. 

1  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  3. 

2  Articles  in  The  Forum,  Vols.  23,  34,  and  35. 

3  The  Kallikak  Family. 


320      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

Stereotyped   Work    Must   Be    Avoided.    With    such 
divergent  individual  variations  within  any  given  class  it 
is  patent  that  stereotyped  work  is  sure  to  injure  some 
individuals.     Uniform  procedure  that  will  not  adjust  it- 
self to  any  individual  is  a  drawback  to  the  entire  class. 
The  child  who  is  slow  is  likely  to  be  too  slow  to  profit 
by  the  class  work ;    the  child  who   is  medium  does  not 
remain  the  same  all  the  time  but  is  medium  or  "  average  " 
because  he  has  been  both  slow  and  quick  at  different 
times;    the  child  who  is  a  rapid    learner  is   sometime 
backward  in  special  types  of  learning,  although  a  vei 
few  children  are  found  to  be  advanced  in  learning  ability 
along    all   lines.     Then    again   the    "  course    of   study/' 
whatever  it  may  be,  will  be  more  difficult  in  some  pai 
than  others.     All  groups  will  not  be  able  to  master  i1 
in  the  same  manner  or  at  the  same  rate.     These  am 
many  other  factors  make  it  necessary  for  class  require 
ments  to  be  very  flexible.     Many  teachers  are  embai 
rassed  when  told   that  they    must   study  their   clas 
before  they  can  determine  what  to  teach  and  how  to  prc 
ceed,  and  some  seem  to  think  that  a  course  of  stud; 
obviates  any  necessity  for  differentiating  the  individual 
of  the  class.     But  no  course  should  dominate  to  this 
extent. 

Work  should  be  done  in  unison  only  to  the  extent  thj 
there  is  social  betterment  as  a  result.  A  class  in  foil 
dancing  or  in  gymnastics  may  be  materially  benefit< 
by  such  a  method.  Religious  exercises  including  read- 
ings and  prayer,  patriotic  exercises,  such  as  saluting  th< 


THE   INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  321 

flag;  and  singing  may,  of  course,  be  done  in  concert  to 
advantage.  Little  good  is  likely  to  come  to  children  from 
answering  problems  in  drill  work,  giving  definitions  in 
grammar,  writing,  typewriting,  iQarning^jiQetry,  or  read- 
ing ordinary  lessons  in  this  way. 

Illustrations.1  In  drill  work  a  teacher  gives  problems 
and  is  answered  by  the  class  as  follows :  9  add  8  add  7 
add  7  subtract  5  subtract  4  subtract  1  add  7  add  3  mul- 
tiply by  3  subtract  45.  Children  give  answer  in  unison. 
In  answering  the  bright,  accurate  children  will  lead 
and  the  others  will  chime  in.  If  such  work  is  to  be  ad- 
vantageous, the  teacher  should  call  upon  one  person  to 
give  his  answer  and  then  ask  others  to  compare  with  him. 
Even  in  this  case  there  is  a  great  chance  for  the  lazy  in- 
dividual, the  one  who  needs  the  practice,  to  ignore  the 
work  and,  when  called  upon,  give  a  chance  answer 
and,  when  not  called  upon  first,  agree  with  someone  in 
the  class  who  is  usually  right.  In  every  case  where 
such  an  oral  drill  is  used  the  teacher  should  work  to  see 
that  the  rapid,  medium,  and  slow  workers  are  called 
upon  in  rapid  succession.  Even  then,  it  will  not  afford 
drill  in  speed  to  the  rapid  workers,  for  if  the  work  is  given 
slowly  enough  for  the  remainder  of  the  class,  it  will  be 
too  easy  for  the  few  who  are  superior  in  this  line  of  ac- 
tivity. Such  a  drill  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  develop 
accuracy,  for  it  is  rarely  possible  to  discover  wherein  the 

1  It  is  not  the  intention  to  give  many  bad  practices  for  illustrations. 
We  should  stress  what  is  right.  However,  teachers  often  persist  in  some 
types  of  work  which  are  bad,  thinking  that  they  are  illustrating  advanced 
theory. 

Y 


322      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

child  who  is  wrong  makes  his  mistakes.  Its  value  lies  in 
the  stimulation  afforded  a  sluggish  group. 

This  is  the  kind  of  problem  that  is  most  often 
used  in  oral  arithmetic  drills.  Instead  should  be  sub- 
stituted such  problems  as,  15  add  9,  50  subtract  14, 
$1.00  subtract  13  cents,  20-J  multiply  by  7,  etc.  Or- 
dinary purchases  of  groceries,  dry  goods,  gasoline,  etc., 
involve  such  calculations.  The  rapid  children  may  be 
helped  by  scoring  the  time  it  takes  to  get  the  answer. 
We  thus  have  drill  in  speed  for  everyone.  The  processes, 
being  simple,  do  not  allow  the  slow  child  to  become  lost. 
Accuracy  should  be  scored,  and  the  drill  is  not  so  com- 
plex as  to  prevent  a  child  or  the  teacher  from  discovering 
where  a  mistake  is  made.  A  good  way  to  insure  every- 
one an  opportunity  for  a  score  in  accuracy,  which  is  much 
more  fundamental  than  speed,  is  to  supply  each  child 
with  a  slip  of  paper  upon  which  he  writes  his  answers. 
At  the  end  of  the  drill  period  the  correct  answers  are  read 
by  the  teacher.  Every  child  may  grade  his  own  results, 
or  the  papers  may  be  exchanged  and  checked.  In  this 
way  a  teacher  may  soon  discover  special  individual  weak- 
nesses. If  a  child  continually  fails  on  a  problem  involv- 
ing the  multiplication  of  a  small  common  fraction,  he 
may  be  furnished  drills  for  this  sort  of  error. 

Written  arithmetic  drill  may  be  considered  in  the  same 
way.  A  teacher  puts  several  long  addition  problems 
upon  the  board.  These  should  involve  practical  and 
useful  figures  such  as  may  be  found  in  grocery  bills. 
The  rapid  children  solve  five  of  the  problems,  the  "aver- 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  323 

age  "  child  solves  three,  and  the  slow  child  solves  two. 
In  every  case,  accuracy  is  scored,  and  those  who  make 
mistakes  are  required  to  discover  them  and  bring  in,  cor- 
rectly solved,  any  problems  in  which  mistakes  were  made. 

Teachers  often  make  the  mistake  of  calling  for  answers 
when  only  four  or  five  of  a  class  of  twenty  or  thirty  have 
finished.  This,  of  course,  is  an  injury  to  the  majority. 

It  might  be  said  that  the  child  who  is  able  to  solve  five 
problems  in  a  drill  lesson  while  the  remainder  of  the 
class  is  solving  three  gets  practice  which  he  does  not  need. 
However,  this  depends  upon  the  standard  to  be  attained. 
When  he  reaches  this  standard,  and  the  Courtis  stand- 
ard is  a  fairly  good  one  for  fast  workers  (although  no 
school  should  insist  that  the  slow  children  reach  it),  he 
should  be  excused  from  drill  and  be  allowed  at  this 
time  to  occupy  himself  with  work  which  will  be  more 
beneficial  to  him. 

Drill  in  spelling  often  fails  to  accomplish  very  much 
because  the  individual  is  not  provided  with  proper  stimu- 
lation and  exercise.  The  old  method  of  pronouncing  a 
word  which  is  then  spelled  in  unison  by  the  class  does  not 
get  very  far.  A  method  which  requires  every  child  to 
attend  to  every  word  and  its  special  peculiarities  is  to 
write  it  on  a  flash  card  (any  ordinary  card  large  enough 
so  that  all  may  see  the  entire  word)  with  the  peculiar 
parts  underlined  as  follows  :  sep  a  rate.  This  is  exposed 
for  a  period  long  enough  for  every  child  to  get  a  good 
visual  picture  of  it.  The  card  is  then  removed  and  the 
class  pronounces  and  spells  the  word  in  unison.  Fol- 


324       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

lowing  this,  each  child  writes  it  and  underlines  the  peculiar 
part.  The  words  are  then  collected  and  corrected  by  the 
teacher.  Every  child  has  to  give  close  attention  to  the 
flash  cards  else  he  cannot  write  his  word  correctly. 
After  being  corrected,  they  are  returned  to  the  class  for 
study,  the  flash-card  presentation  being  the  assignment. 
The  grade  in  spelling  should  be  based  upon  correct  writ- 
ing the  first  time  as  well  as  in  the  final  test. 

Two  other  stereotyped  practices  which  are  quite 
common  are : 

(1)  A  few  bright  children  often  are  allowed  to  receive 
most  of  the  training  by  teachers  who  call  upon  only  those 
who  volunteer  or  upon  whom  they  can  "  depend."  (2) 
The  conscientious  teacher  may  constantly  allow  the 
slow  children  to  take  up  the  time  while  nothing  is  pro- 
vided for  the  more  rapid  workers. 

Saving  of  Waste  by  More  Individual  Methods.  There 
are  several  types  of  saving  other  than  that  directly  con- 
nected with  the  individuals  in  the  classes.  One  of  these 
is  the  saving  to  the  community  by  cutting  down  un- 
necessary expenses.  Money  is  saved  by  using  more  in- 
dividual methods  in  the  following  ways : 

1.  Waste  from  retardation  is  eliminated.  It  costs  as 
much  money  to  send  a  child  through  a  grade  the  second 
or  third  time  as  it  does  the  first.  His  parents  are  immedi- 
ately affected  by  being  forced  to  maintain  him  in  school 
every  extra  year  it  takes  him  to  graduate.  The  entire 
community  must  pay  more  taxes  whenever  the  number  of 
repeaters  reaches  the  point  where  extra  teachers  are 


THE   INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  325 

necessary.  In  a  school  system  of  one  thousand  children 
twenty-five  per  cent  retardation  will  mean  that  250 
children  are  being  taught  a  second  time.  This  will  un- 
doubtedly require  additional  teaching  force,  and  if  it  is 
not  supplied,  greater  inefficiency  than  ever  will  result 
from  the  large  and  heterogeneous  classes  which  result. 
Then  there  are  the  books,  seats,  and  floor  space,  which 
must  be  maintained  for  these  extra  pupils.  Ayres  1  has 
calculated  that  in  29  cities  which  he  studied,  repetition  of 
grades  required  98,000  extra  years  of  instruction.  At 
$29.27,  the  average  annual  cost  of  schooling  a  child  in 
the  United  States,  it  will  cost  these  cities  a  total  of 
$2,868,400. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  a  teacher  who  is  able  so 
to  treat  a  backward  child  that  he  is  promoted  when 
he  might  have  failed  accomplishes  a  direct  saving  to  the 
community.  There  is  also  a  direct  saving  every  time  a 
child  is  enabled  to  complete  a  course  in  less  than  the  regu- 
lar time.  Since  Burk  has  demonstrated  that  most 
children  may  finish  the  eight  grades  in  from  five  to  seven 
years  if  they  are  given  proper  individual  attention,  it 
would  appear  that  from  one  to  three  years  is  being  lost  in 
most  places. 

Burk  goes  on  to  show  that  in  the  old  system  (the  one 
that  is  still  in  common  use)  there  is  waste  due  to  "  fric- 
tion," in  attempting  to  teach  all  children  what  only  a 
few  have  occasion  to  learn,  that  the  size  and  capacity  of 

1  Russell  Sage  Foundation  Report,  Effect  of  Promotion  Rates  on  School 
Efficiency,  1912,  pp.  13. 


326      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

the  school  plant  could  be  greatly  reduced  by  the  use  of 
more  individual  methods,  and  that  there  is  a  great  and 
unmeasurable  quantity  of  waste  in  the  class  system. 

Some  Advantages  to  the  Children  of  More  Individual 
Methods.  The  saving  to  the  community  is  not  nearly 
so  important  in  teaching  as  is  the  advantage  gained  by 
the  children  from  special  methods  employed.  The 
child  who  must  "  repeat "  and  the  one  who-  finds  that 
he  cannot  do  what  is  expected  of  him  are  injured. 
The  bright  child  who  is  held  back  may  lose  his  bright- 
ness. Therefore,  even  though  promotion  may  not  be 
accelerated  on  account  of  administrative  policy,  attention 
to  the  needs  of  individuals  will  have  large  results.  Some 
of  these  are : 

1.  Independence  and  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
children.  By  doing  more  work  by  himself  and  by  think- 
ing out  his  problems  without  the  help  or  stimulation  of 
other  children,  a  child  soon  learns  to  overcome  obstacles 
which  before  such  training  would  have  appeared  impos- 
sible to  him.  This  is  the  ability  which  the  old  un- 
graded district  school  and  life  on  the  farm  gave  the  coun- 
try boy  a  generation  ago,  and  which  made  him  a  leader  in 
our  city  life  to-day.  In  being  required  to  work  by  himself 
and  to  get  results  before  the  teacher  came  his  way  again, 
he  accomplished  many  feats  alone  which  might  have 
been  explained  to  him.  It  must  be  admitted  that  most 
of  the  practices  of  the  old  ungraded  school  were  bad,  but 
the  necessity  for  independent  work  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils  was  one  of  its  saving  qualities. 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL   BALANCE  327 

2.  Thoroughness   is   practiced.     If   the    child   is   sure 
that  what  he  does  is  to  receive  attention,  rather  than  be 
looked  upon  as  a  part  of  an  agglomeration  and  never 
followed  to  its  source,  he  is  bound  to  feel  responsible  for 
completing  his  tasks.     It  can  be  readily  seen  that  in  il- 
lustrations of  drill  methods  which  are  too  general,  given 
in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter,  the  child  is  soon  likely  to 
acquire  the  habit  of  not  finishing  his  work. 

3.  Increased  interest  due  to  the  fact  that  the  work 
selected  is  of  vital  importance  to  each  individual.     When 
the  child  knows  that  he  is  studying  words  which  he  does 
not  know  how  to  spell  and  which  he  is  very  certain  to 
need ;  that  he  is  practicing  in  arithmetic  problems  which 
are  important  in  life  and  which  he  needs  to  solve  because 
he  does  not  have  sufficient  speed  or  accuracy  in  them ; 
or  that  he  is  studying  and  reading  in  history  books  which 
interest  him  and  which  he  should  read  in  order  to  be  a 
better  citizen,  his  interest  and  efforts  will  surely  be  in- 
creased.    When  we  add  the  definite  goal  of  completion 
(as  has  been  suggested  for  writing,  spelling,  and  arith- 
metic in  a  previous  chapter),  and  the  child  realizes  that 
when  he  makes  a  score  of  70  on  the  Ayres  scale  in  writ- 
ing, that  when  he  does  not  misspell  in  his  written  work 
in  spelling,  and  that  when  he  reaches  certain  standards 
in  the  fundamentals  of    arithmetic    he  will  be  excused 
from  drills  in  these  subjects  and  will  be  allowed  to  turn  to 
more  vital  and  possibly  more  interesting  work,  his  in- 
terest and  efforts  are  likely  to  be  increased  anew.     And 
when  in  addition  to  this  it  is  possible  to  adjust  school 


328       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

machinery  so  that  a  child  may  complete  more  than  one 
grade  in  a  year,  the  question  of  interest,  especially  among 
the  brighter  children,  should  no  longer  be  a  problem. 

Factors  in  the  Socialization  of  Instruction 

Advantages   of   Social   Stimulation   and   Cooperation. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  individual  in- 
struction is  based  entirely  upon  the  relation  of  the  in- 
dividual to  his  school  work.  While  this  view  is  very 
important,  and,  as  has  been  explained,  is  bringing  about 
reforms  in  some  places  which  will  sooner  or  later  come 
everywhere,  there  is  also  another  large  factor  in  education 
which  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  This  is  the 
relation  of  the  individual  to  the  rest  of  society  and 
his  education  for  social  efficiency.  What  he  may  learn 
in  school  is  important  only  as  he  can  use  it  in  cooperation 
with  other  human  beings.  That  "  no  man  liveth  to  him- 
self "  was  never  more  true  than  it  is  to-day.  The  social 
viewpoint  includes  the  individual  in  his  relation  to  sub- 
ject matter  and  adds  the  factor  of  his  ability  to  wield 
himself  and  his  accomplishments  in  a  social  world. 
There  are  two  important  advantages  of  socialization  of 
instruction.  They  are : 

1.  The  individual  can  often  do  more  and  better  work 
under  proper  group  organization  than  he  can  when  work- 
ing alone.  Triplett  has  tabulated  some  definite  results 
of  experiments  which  show  this.1  In  a  task  as  simple 
as  turning  a  crank  he  discovered  that  a  child  will  do 

1  Dynamogenic  Factors,  Am.  J.  P.  Vol.  9,  1898,  pp.  507-533.. 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANQJ^  329 

better  and  more  rapid  work  when  working  with  some- 
one else.  If  competition  was  very  strenuous,  the  major- 
ity of  children  tested  did  much  better  than  when  work- 
ing alone,  while  a  few  became  nervous,  over-rigid,  and 
less  capable  under  the  strain.  This  does  not  indicate 
that  children  should  never  be  subjected  to  this  kind  of 
trial,  but  rather  that  the  slow,  uninterested  but  capable 
child  may  be  aroused  to  do  his  best  through  proper 
competition,  and  that  the  nervous,  easily  overcome  in- 
dividual will  be  helped  to  take  his  rightful  place  in  society 
by  a  wise  use  of  competition  by  his  teacher.  The  fact 
that  he  quits  in  a  race  is  an  indication  that  he  needs 
training  in  holding  his  own  and  in  being  able  to  put 
forth  his  best  efforts  in  crucial  situations.  Holmes 1  and 
Montessori 2  have  questioned  the  use  of  competition  in 
education  because  of  the  ordinary  unwise  practices  which 
make  it  the  center  of  all  school  activities.  They  have 
substituted  individualization  and  cooperation  in  tasks, 
and,  although  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  eliminate  com- 
petition from  educational  work,  there  is  little  question 
that  children  may  be  compared  with  each  other  too 
much. 

2.  Social  cooperation.  This  helps  the  individual  in 
learning  and  is  an  essential  feature  of  life  which  must  be 
developed  by  education.  Back  of  social  cooperation  is 
first  of  all  the  simple  principle  that  two  heads  are  better 
than  one.  In  the  content  subjects  this  is  especially  true. 

1  What  Is  and  What  Might  Be.     Dutton,  N.  Y. 

2  The  Chapter  on  Discipline  in  the  Monlbesspri  Method- 


330      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

The  class  becomes  a  social  gathering  which  has  for  its 
purpose  the  discussion  of  some  problem,  project,  inter- 
est, or  need  of  the  individuals  who  make  up  the  group. 
^When  properly  managed  such  a  class  becomes  a  natural 
group  in  contrast  to  artificial  class.  The  children  have 
mutual  sympathies  and  interests.  All  of  them  do  not 
prepare  the  same  lesson.  They  do  not  read  from  the 
same  book  at  the  same  time  or  "  keep  the  place  "  while 
one  of  their  number  reads.  Each  individual  feels  his 
strength  because  he  is  an  asset  to  the  class.  He  has 
prepared  and  brought  something  to  it  which  the  others 
do  not  know.  Of  course  they  all  prepare  the  general 
assignment  in  order  to  be  able  to  understand  what  is  in- 
volved in  the  discussion,  but  in  addition  each  one  of 
them  brings  something  of  value  as  his  contribution.  When 
such  a  class  gathers  for  a  recitation,  the  essential  for 
profitable  cooperation  is  that  each  child  present  something 
which  is  both  interesting  to  him  and  of  use  toward  furthering 
the  project  in  which  the  group  is  interested.  ^In  contrast 
to  this  method  the  old-fashioned  recitation  has  been 
called  "  a  penal  inquisition  to  discover  whether  or  not 
little  Billy  obediently  memorized  his  lesson."  Unques- 
tionably the  method  of  calling  upon  children  merely  to 
discover  whether  or  not  they  have  done  some  required 
task  is  fruitless.  The  remainder  of  the  class  have  noth- 
ing in  common  with  the  one  who  is  reciting.  If  they  have 
studied  their  lessons,  they  know  what  he  has  to  say  before 
he  says  it.  If  he  has  difficulty,  they  are  all  the  more 
disinterested.  His  personal  contortions  to  escape  the 


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THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  331 

wrath  of  the  teacher  may  arouse  the  sympathies  of  the 
rest  of  the  group,  but  little  will  be  gained  by  them  from 
undergoing  such  an  experience. 

The  greatest  happiness  comes  to  him  who  has  become 
a  vital  social  influence  for  good.  When  the  child  finds 
that  he  is  relied  upon  by  his  companions,  that  they  re- 
gard him  and  his  service  as  an  asset,  and  that  he  is  a 
power  in  the  social  world,  he  begins  to  realize  upon  the 
capital  he  has  invested  in  education. 

The  increased  efforts  and  more  lasting  results  through 
socialization  are  revealed  in  an  experiment  in  teaching 
arithmetic  made  in  St.  Louis  by  W.  C.  Reavis.1 

"  A  mock  bank  was  organized,"  he  says,  "  in  which 
each  member  of  a  class  studying  stocks  became  a  stock- 
holder. Certificates  of  stock  and  other  commercial  forms 
connected  with  banking  were  worked  out  and  printed 
on  the  school  press.  These  certificates  were  then  sold 
in  different  denominations  to  the  different  members  of  the 
class.  This  stock  was  sold  at  market  quotations  which 
were  listed  on  a  bulletin  board  by  officials  at  different 
times  during  the  recitation.  The  pupils  thus  became 
conversant  very  quickly  with  the  terms  used  in  stock 
transactions  and  understood  the  effect  of  changes  in  prices 
on  the  value  of  their  personal  stock  already  purchased. 

"  Problems  in  buying  and  selling  were  next  under- 
taken by  the  class,  and  the  results  worked  out  first  for 
the  individual  directly  concerned  in  the  transaction  and 

1  Social  Motive  in  Teaching  Arithmetic.  Elementary  School  Journal, 
October,  1917,  pp.  264-267. 


332       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

then  for  the  corporation.  The  newspaper  quotations 
were  carefully  noted  in  this  connection,  and  hypothetical 
problems  were  made  up  and  discussed  by  the  class.  When 
purchases  and  sales  were  made  and  dividends  or  deficits 
declared  the  appropriate  commercial  forms  were  used 
in  completing  the  transaction.  This  afforded  excellent 
practice  in  the  use  of  conventional  forms,  such  as  deposit 
slips,  checks,  and  notes." 

The  factors  in  socialization  in  the  above  work  are  :  (l) 
the  entire  class  was  united  into  a  corporation  or  natural 
group,  (2)  they  were  studying  subject  matter  which  has 
large  social  value  (everybody  in  these  days  of  corporation 
should  know  the  methods,  advantages,  and  disadvan- 
tages of  incorporated  enterprises),  (3)  the  problems  were 
made  up  by  the  class.  There  would  have  been  no  dis- 
advantage if  the  teacher  as  a  sort  of  senior  member  in 
the  corporation  had  also  taken  part  in  making  up  the 
problems.  Teachers  of  classes  which  have  not  been 
socialized  before  will  find  that  they  will  need,  at  least  for 
a  time,  to  become  active  coworkers  with  the  children. 
As  the  work  progresses,  the  children  will  show  more 
initiative  and  will  not  need  so  much  leadership  if  they 
have  been  helped  in  the  right  way. 

The  illustration  above  was  also  well  motivated  and  an 
excellent  project. 

Following  this  work  a  test  was  given.  (  The  problems 
were  taken  from  the  Stone  and  Southworth  Arithmetic, 
Book  3,  p.  194.  The  time  was  arbitrarily  set  at  twenty- 
five  minutes,  and  work  stopped  when  time  was  called." 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL   BALANCE  333 

The  following  are  the  problems : 

1.  What  is  the  market  value  of  35  shares  of  North 
Western  stock  at  43 \  per  cent  above  par? 

2.  What  would  be  the  value  of  the  same  stock  if  sold 
at  the  same  rate  below  par? 

3.  I  receive  a  stock  dividend  of  $1728.     This  is  at  the 
rate  of  14f  per  cent  on  the  par  value  of  my  investment.      How 
much  of  the  stock  do  I  own? 

4.  A  man   exchanges    170  shares   of  stock  worth    103 
in  the  market  for  a  cottage  on  the  seaside  valued  at  $8510. 
The  difference  was  made  up  in  mill  stock  at  a  par  value  of  50 
per  share.     How  many  shares  were  there?     Leave  brokerage 
out  of  the  account. 

5.  A  gentleman  bought  1200  shares  of  railroad  stock  at 
115  and  was  glad  to  sell  it  at  58.     What  did  he  lose? 

6.  The    Atlantic    Steamship    Company    is    capitalized 
at   $8,000,000.     The   receipts   for   the  year   are   $16,400,000. 
The  expenses  are  $14,800,000,  $600,000  is  put  into  a  reserve 
fund   and   the   remainder   distributed   as   a   dividend.     What 
rate  per  cent  of  dividend  was  declared? 

7.  How  many  hundred  dollar  shares  of  mining  stock 
can  be  bought  at  188  for  $3750,  and  what  sum  will  remain? 
(Parts  of  a  share  are  not  sold.) 

8.  I  receive  $2133  as  the  net  profits  of  stock  bought 
at  par  and  sold  at  107.     How  many  hundred  dollar    shares 
were  sold,  allowing  J  brokerage? 

9.  My  broker  paid  me  $8585  which  he  had  received  for 
Old  Colony  railroad  stock  sold  for  me  at  J  brokerage.     How 
many  shares  did  he  sell  at  215? 

10.  In  the  N.  Y.  stock  market  50,000  shares  of  railroad 
stock  were  bought  at  a  premium  of  22|,  and  sold  the  next  day 
at  a  premium  of  26  J.  The  brokerage  in  each  case  being  f, 
required  the  profits. 


334      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

The  problems  have  been  given  here  to  illustrate  their 
difficulty.  It  is  often  contended  that  socialized  methods 
are  "play  methods  "  and  do  not  call  for  hard  work. 
The  teacher  must  not  make  the  mistake  of  allowing 
the  work  to  become  easier  and  the  children  should  not  be 
allowed  to  follow  their  passing  whims.  Socialized  work, 
like  all  the  other  modern  innovations,  should  result  in 
more  and  better  results  as  measured  by  any  acceptable 
standard. 

"  The  class  work  was  completed  March  15,  1917," 
to  quote  further,  "  and  the  foregoing  test  was  given 
March  16.  There  were  28  pupils  in  the  class.  Of  these 
21  were  present  and  took  the  test.  Fifteen  pupils  worked 
all  the  problems  correctly  in  twenty-five  minutes,  two 
pupils  had  nine  right  out  of  nine  attempts,  one  pupil 
had  eight  right  out  of  nine  attempts,  and  three  had  seven 
right  out  of  seven  attempts." 

The  lasting  influence  of  the  work  is  shown  by  the  same 
test  being  given  on  September  5,  1917,  following  an  in- 
terval of  90  days  in  school,  during  which  time  no  atten- 
tion had  been  given  to  stocks,  and  a  vacation  of  80  days. 
Of  the  fifteen  pupils  who  had  ten  rights  out  of  ten  at- 
tempts, thirteen  again  made  perfect  scores  in  the  same 
time,  one  fell  to  eight  rights  out  of  eight  attempts,  and 
one  was  not  present  to  take  the  test.  One  pupil  raised 
his  score  from  seven  rights  out  of  seven  attempts  to  nine 
rights  out  of  nine  attempts,  one  from  seven  rights  out  of 
seven  attempts  to  eight  rights  out  of  eight  attempts,  one 
from  eight  rights  out  of  nine  attempts  to  nine  rights  out 


THE   INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  335 

of  nine  attempts,  one  changed  from  nine  rights  out  of 
nine  attempts  to  nine  rights  out  of  ten  attempts,  and  one 
who  was  absent  from  the  first  test  made  a  score  of  nine 
rights  out  of  nine  attempts. 

Such  remarkable  results  are  in  evidence  in  many  places 
where  real  concrete  work  is  given  and  group  activity  used 
as  a  motive. 

^LThe  following  statement  taken  from  the  aims  of  the 
Francis  Parker  School  will  illustrate  this  principle  as 
applied  in  active  school  work.  i  The  demands  of  good 
citizenship  require  that  the  school  gradually  develop  in 
the  child  a  growing  social  consciousness.  The  self-cen- 
tered individual  of  the  kindergarten  and  primary  grades 
should  become,  as  the  school  years  pass  by,  more  respect- 
ful and  appreciative  of  the  rights  of  others  and  more 
sympathetic  and  tolerant  towards  those  of  various  tem- 
peraments and  conditions  of  life. 

"  To  realize  this  development  in  the  pupils  there  should 
be  provided,  in  increasing  amount  throughout  the  years 
of  school  life,  opportunity  for  the  child  to  think  less  of 
himself  as  an  individual  and  more  of  the  community  as 
a  whole,  of  which  he  forms  but  a  single  unit.  Condi- 
tions calling  for  unselfish  social  service  on  the  part  of 
the  pupils  should  be  consciously  created  by  the  school; 
service  which  has  a  cooperative  and  community  in- 
terest. These  opportunities  should  be  given,  (a)  in  the 
classroom,  (&)  in  the  school  community  as  a  whole,  (c) 
in  the  larger  community  outside  the  school.  This 
means  that  interest  in  social  service  on  the  part  of  the 


336      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

pupil  should  gradually  expand  throughout  the  school] 
course.  At  first  his  social  horizon  is  bounded  by  the 
walls  of  his  classroom,  then  there  dawns  a  consciousness 
of  duties  and  responsibilities  to  the  school  community. 

1  The  standpoint  should  gradually  change  from  one 
of  selfish  interest  in  society  for  the  sake  of  what  it  can 
contribute  toward  individual  pleasures  to  the  realization 
of  the  duties  and  responsibilities  to  society  for  the  sake 
of  greater  pleasure  and  benefit  to  all." 

And  it  might  well  be  added  that  the  surest  way  for  the 
individual  to  become  powerful  and  successful  is  to  use 
his  intellect  in  such  a  way  that  the  social  group  may 
realize  benefits  from  his  work.  He  must  learn  how  to 
clothe  and  market  his  ideas  and  discoveries  before  he  can 
realize  upon  them,  and  in  the  final  evaluation  of  the  efforts 
of  men  it  is  found  that  long  practice  in  "  putting  their  ideas 
across,"  in  not  only  having  good  ideas  but  in  being  able  to 
influence  others  by  using  and  expressing  them  properly,  is 
one  of  the  crucial  features  of  education. 

The  illustration  previously  given  of  socialized  arith- 
metic practiced  in  St.  Louis  is  one  in  which  cooperation 
among  the  children  was  the  dominant  motive. 

Social  Needs  Are  as  Important  as  Those  of  the  In- 
dividual. The  work  of  the  school  should  be  directed  to 
the  solution  of  social  needs  even  while  it  is  taking  care 
of  the  needs  of  the  individual.  Social  needs  are  those 
which  arise  from  the  demands  of  the  world,  the  govern- 
ment, the  state,  the  city,  and  the  community.  In 
adjusting  itself  to  society  the  school  uses  methods  and 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL  BALANCE  337 

selects  subject  matter  which  solve  social  problems. 
The  old  type  of  school  in  rural  communities  often  de- 
veloped in  the  children  a  dislike  for  their  home  environ- 
ment and  made  them  want  to  migrate  to  the  cities.  The 
schools  in  the  cities  often  made  poor  professional  men  of 
boys  who  had  good  abilities  in  mechanical  lines  or,  if 
they  could  not  become  doctors,  lawyers,  preachers,  or 
teachers,  the  teaching  they  received  in  school  made  them 
dissatisfied  with  their  lot,  and  as  a  result  they  were  poor 
workmen  and  poorer  citizens. 

X^  It  is  now  fairly  well  understood  that  arithmetic,  geog- 
raphy, English,  history,  vocational  subjects,  and  all  the 
others  must  be  taught  in  such  a  way  as  to  help  in  the  solu- 
tion of  social  problems.  For  illustration  consider  arith- 
metic :  the  boy  on  the  farm  should  be  made  a  better,  hap- 
pier, and  more  contented  farmer  by  taking  arithmetic  in 
the  rural  or  consolidated  school.  He  should  be  led  to 
see  that  alfalfa,  potatoes,  apples,  hens,  hogs,  turkeys, 
geese,  etc.,  provide  him  with  delightful  arithmetic  prob- 
lems. He  should  learn  that  wheat,  hay,  corn,  and 
food  of  any  kind  that  is  a  product  of  his  father's  farm  is 
furnishing  problems  in  the  pits  and  stock  markets  of  all 
the  world,  and  that  the  modern  farmer  may  be  the  equal 
of  any  man  in  any  calling  or  profession  so  far  as  being 
mathematically  scientific  and  expert  goes.  He  should 
learn  of  and  work  out  in  his  own  problems  ;  the  taxes  which 
his  father  pays  on  crops  that  are  in  storage,  on  his  farm, 
on  his  horses,  cattle,  and  other  live  stock,  on  his  automo- 
bile, and  on  his  bank  account,  and  he  should  learn  from 


338       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

problems  involving  accurate  statistics  just  where  the 
money  derived  from  these  taxes  goes.  He  should  also  be 
led  to  discover  that  insurance,  weights  and  measures, 
fractions,  decimals,  interest,  percentage,  and  mensuration 
are  all  vitally  connected  with  life  on  the  farm.  At  regu- 
lar intervals  the  problems  should  be  taken  from  the  home 
community,  and  they  should  be  problems  vital  in  real 
situations. 

This  is  socialization  of  arithmetic  in  a  rural  commu- 
nity. It  is  being  accomplished  in  many  places.  In  the 
city  the  same  type  of  work  may  be  done.  How  this  is  ac- 
complished in  Indianapolis  has  already  been  described  in 
the  chapter  on  The  Problem  Method.  Other  subjects 
may  be  socialized  in  the  same  way.  History,  civics,  and 
geography  should  be  based  throughout  upon  the  home 
community ;  and  the  truths  learned  of  the  home  com- 
munity, state,  and  nation  should  be  a  constant  basis  for 
comparisons  with  what  exists  or  is  happening  in  more 
distant  places.  This  is  as  necessary  for  spelling,  art,  or 
sewing  as  for  geography.  There  are  definite  commu- 
nity situations  involved  in  the  teaching  of  every  branch 
of  the  curriculum.  These  must  be  utilized.  As  a  result 
the  child  not  only  becomes  a  larger  individual  but  he  is 
also  a  better  citizen  of  his  home  community,  he  lives  a 
larger  and  a  more  interesting  home  life,  and  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole  is  made  richer. 

Illustration  of  Social  Failure  as  the  Result  of  School 
Practices.  The  following  quotation  is  an  illustration  of 
how  education  has  been  ruinous  to  many  communities : 


THE    INDIVIDUAL-SOCIAL   BALANCE  339 

Now  upon  a  journey  through  rural  New  England  you  shall 
see  fine  old  mansions,  showing  by  their  architecture  that 
they  date  back  well  towards  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  ample  old  homesteads  with  their  spacious  barns, 
all  of  them  more  or  less  in  a  state  of  decay.  Of  many,  nothing 
but  the  cellar  hole  and  an,  at  first  sight,  unaccountable  orchard 
is  left.  These  were  the  homes  of  a  race  which  lived  and  pros- 
pered, which  cleared  the  land,  and  built  homes,  and  added 
barn  to  barn,  which  accumulated  wealth,  and  gave  virile 
expression  of  itself  in  church,  in  state,  and  in  educational 
institutions.  But  that  race  all  allowed  its  sons  and  daughters 
to  be  educated  away  from  the  farm,  the  country,  and  from  the 
state.  In  their  place  today  we  too  often  have  a  dwindling 
town,  a  neglected  farm,  a  closed  church,  an  abandoned  school- 
house.1 

In  every  subject  he  teaches  it  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher 
to  assist  in  enlarging  and  welding  together  the  life  of  the 
community  in  which  he  works,  be  it  a  large  city,  a  suburb, 
a  village,  or  a  rural  district.  Education,  culture,  refine- 
ment, and  ambition  are  best  when  they  play  a  part  in 
the  life  of  the  home  and  of  the  home  community.  -^ 

Relation  of  Individual  Instruction  to  Socialized  Instruction 
In  giving  an  individual-social  balance  to  the  work  of 

the  school,   the  teacher  must  work  with  the  following 

principles  in  mind  : 

1.  Every  individual  is  different  in  every  trait  or  com- 
bination of  traits  from  every  other  individual. 

2.  Both  for  the  sake  of  the  individual  and  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the   community  the  strong  points  in   each  in- 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  20,  1912. 


340       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

dividual  which  are  of  social  or  individual  value  should  be 
developed  and  made  stronger. 

3.  The  economic   and   social  independence  of  its  in- 
dividuals  is   fundamental  to   the   growth   of    any    com- 
munity. 

4.  Therefore,  when  a  teacher  helps  an  individual  to 
become  larger  and  stronger  and  more  independent,  he  is 
also  helping  the  entire  community. 

5.  Not  only  the  independence  of  individuals  but  also 
their  cooperation  is  necessary.     It  is  necessary  for  both 
individual  and  community    success.     The    school   must 
give  constant  training  in  cooperation. 

6.  When  working  in   cooperation  with   others   or  in 
competition  with  them,  the  individual  can  do  more  and 
better  work  if  the  group  is  wisely  managed.     In  all  such 
work  the  teacher  must  be  the  stimulating  and  guiding  force. 
The  results  will  be  entirely  dependent  upon  how  he  or- 
ganizes and  directs  either  individuals  or  groups. 

7.  In  every  recitation  and  in  every  assignment  the 
teacher   should   seek   to   make  the   individual   a   better 
citizen,    citizenship   being   looked  upon   in   its   broadest 
sense.     As  a  result  of  his  life  at  school  the  child  should 
live  upon  a  higher  plane  outside  of  school.     He  should 
have  more  insight  into  the  affairs  of  his  home  and  com- 
munity ;  he  should  be  able  to  hold  his  own  in  competition 
with  others  ;  he  should  know  how  to  cooperate  with  them 
both  to  the  advantage  of  himself  and  of  those  with  whom 
he  works. 


CHAPTER  XV 

METHODS  OF  ADJUSTING  SCHOOL  WORK  TO 
INDIVIDUAL  NEEDS 

THERE  are  five  specific  features  of  school  organization 
involved  in  adjusting  work  to  the  individual  child.  All 
the  adjustments  are,  of  course,  based  upon,  the  general 
assumption  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  school  to  foster  in- 
dividuality and  to  make  ,every  term,  day,  and  recitation 
that  a  child  spends  in  school  of  vital  importance  to  his 
growth  and  ec?iicatipn. 

1.  It  is,  first  of  all,  necessary  that  the  teacher  con- 
stantly study  the  general   and   special   features  in  the 
nature  and  life  of  each  child.     This  study  is  made  the 
basis  of  all  the  rest  of  the  instruction  and  discipline  of 
the  individual.. 

2.  Methods    of    conducting    recitations    which    reach 
every  individual  are  necessary. 

3.  Assignments  must  be  made  with  the  needs   and 
special  nature  of  each  child  in  view. 

4.  School  requirements  and  the  course  of  study  must 
be  adjusted  to  meet  the  needs  of  each  child. 

5.  Promotions,  school  organization,  and  school  machin- 
ery must  be  flexible. 

341 


342       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Studying  the  Individual  and  Adjusting  Work  to  His  Needs 

The  Attitude  of  Leading  Schools.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  desire  to  reach  the  needs  of  the  individual 
is  general  and  plays  a  part  in  the  plans  of  every  con- 
scientious administrator.  However,  it  is  only  in  schools 
of  the  most  modern  type  that  anything  like  successful 
application  of  the  idea  is  found. 

The  Francis  W.  Parker  School  gives  as  one  of  its 
basic  principles  adjustment  to  individuals  and  the  de- 
velopment of  individuality.  In  the  1916-1917  yearbook 
we  find : 

In  the  first  place  in  order  to  preserve  the  individuality 
of  the  children  and  to  enable  this  individuality  to  express 
itself  most  variously,  and  thus  to  provide  a  richer  life  for  the 
child,  special  attention  is  given  to  each  pupil  in  order  to  make 
him  capable  of  the  largest  measure  of  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  growth.  That  is  to  say,  the  unit  is  the  single  pupil, 
not  the  class;  work  is  adapted  to  each  child  according  to  his 
own  actual  needs  and  powers,  not  to  the  " average"  child 
of  the  grade  or  group.  Tasks  are  not  prescribed  for  the  mass, 
regardless  of  the  special  needs  of  the  several  individuals  com- 
posing the  mass. 

In  San  Francisco  Burk  has  worked  out  a  scheme  of 
instruction  which  does  away  with  class  work.  He  calls 
the  old-style  class  instruction  "  the  millstone  that  hangs 
about  the  neck  of  the  school  system."  His  new  method 
has  been  given  several  years  trial  and  is  reported  to  be 
quite  successful.1 

1  Lockstep  Schooling  and  a  Remedy.     San  Francisco,  1913. 


METHODS   OF   ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        343 

Dr.  McCready,  director  of  Wildwood  Hall  in  Pitts- 
burgh, makes  the  following  statement  concerning  his 
study  of  individuals : 

In  private  practice  I  make  it  a  rule  in  all  except  evident 
cases  to  give  nothing  except  a  tentative  opinion  without 
at  least  a  three  months'  period  of  study  and  observation.  It 
not  infrequently  happens  that  I  find  it  necessary  to  revise 
early  impressions  almost  completely  and  to  differ  radically 
with  the  "  snap  diagnoses"  of  previous  observers.1 

This  statement  comes  from  a  man  who  deals  with  only 
the  abnormal  or  at  least  backward  child.  If  he  finds  a 
three  months'  study  of  the  individual  necessary  in  order 
to  diagnose  his  case,  then  surely  it  is  necessary  for  a 
teacher  to  study  a  normal  individual  in  every  way  pos- 
sible in  order  to  be  of  greatest  help  to  him. 

L.  W.  Mayberry  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  in  discussing  in- 
dividual work  in  that  city  says :  "If  something  can  be 
done  to  individualize  the  responses  which  are  to  become 
automatic,  less  class  and  individual  drill  will  be  neces- 
sary. If  the  teacher  will  plan  to  check  up  the  individual 
achievement  of  each  pupil  on  the  facts  presented  for 
drill  and  to  segregate  these  failures  .about  once  each 
week,  the  results  will  be  a  surprise  to  most  teachers. 
When  the  pupil  knows  what  his  particular  problem  is, 
and  when  he  knows  that  his  teacher  and  classmates 
know  it,  he  will  be  more  inclined  to  attack  and  solve 
his  problem."  2 

Education,  Sept.  1917,  p.  4. 
2Elem.  Sch.  Jour.,  Nov.  1917,  p.  133. 


344       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

Methods  of  Studying  the  Individual.1  In  studying  the 
individuals  in  his  classes  the  teacher  must  not  be  in  a 
hurry.  The  most  valuable  information  is  of  a  private 
nature,  and  it  cannot  be  acquired  by  a  series  of  ques- 
tions ;  the  child  himself  is  unconscious  of  many  of  his 
individual  peculiarities.  It  is  often  best  not  to  call  his 
attention  to  them.  The  following  are  some  of  the  im- 
portant factors  which  should  be  investigated  as  soon  as 
possible : 

1.  Is  the  individual  vital  and  up  to  normal  physi- 
cally? Many  children  in  school  are  suffering  from  ail- 
ments which  are  not  known  to  their  teachers.  First  of 
all  the  vision,  hearing,  and  condition  of  the  nose  and 
throat  should  be  known.  Where  there  is  no  school 
physician  or  nurse,  the  teacher  should  investigate  any 
case  that  seems  suspicious  and  advise  medical  attention 
where  necessary.  In  some  states  the  law  requires  such 
preliminary  inspection  by  the  teacher.  The  condition  of 
the  teeth  is  important.  If  the  child  has  decayed  teeth, 
toothache,  or  teeth  that  are  not  cleaned  regularly,  he 
may  be  benefited,  even  to  the  extent  of  an  entire  re- 
versal of  attitude,  by  having  his  teeth  taken  care  of. 
Headaches,  indigestion,  malnutrition,  rheumatism,  and 
even  heart  disease  may  be  the  cause  of  the  backwardness 
of  a  child.  The  necessity  of  becoming  as  familiar  as  pos- 
sible with  the  physical  nature  of  each  child  cannot  be 
stressed  too  much.  In  being  ignorant  of  a  physical 

1  Every  teacher  should  read  The  Study  of  the  Behavior  of  the  Indi- 
vidual Child,  by  J.  T.  McManis.  Warwick  &  York,  Baltimore,  64  pp. 


METHODS   OF   ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        345 

peculiarity  or  defect  in  a  child  the  teacher  is  liable  to 
make  mistakes  in  directing  him.  The  parents  should  be 
asked  to  have  the  child  undergo  a  complete  physical 
examination  by  a  physician.  It  is  often  possible  to  have 
this  done  when  he  is  called  to  the  home  to  take  care  of 
some  minor  ailment.  The  expense  factor  is  partly  elim- 
inated in  this  way. 

2.  Over  and  under  age.     If  a  child  is  younger  or  older 
than  the  average  in  his  grade,  it  is  important  to  know 
just  why  he  is   accelerated  or  retarded.      Knowing  his 
case  in  its  entirety   the  teacher  may  be  able  to   help 
the  bright  child  to  advance  even  more  rapidly,  and  he 
may  be  able  to  do  much  for  the  one  who  is  retarded. 
Very  often  retardation  is  due  to  misunderstanding,  in- 
justice,  or  the  clash  of  personalities  in  which   a   child 
usually    comes    off   second   best.     Both   the   accelerated 
and  the  retarded  child  are  in  positions  different  from  the 
rest  of  the  class.     They  need  special  investigation.     This 
does  not  imply  that  every  other  child  should  not  have 
individual  attention. 

3.  The  attitude  of  the  individual  towards  his  fellows  and 
their  attitude  towards  him  both  in  and  out  of  school.     This 
is  important  for  several  reasons.     A  nervous  child  may 
be  made  worse  by  being  teased  and  bullied.       One  who 
is  not  interested  in  the  school  may  reverse  his  attitude 
after  being  placed  in  the  right  social  atmosphere. 

4.  The  home  life  and  opportunities.     The  teacher  can- 
not   know  too  much  about   the  child's    home    environ- 
ment.    The  education  of  the  father  and  the  mother,  the 


346       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

salary  or  income,  the  ideals  of  the  home,  the  home  duties 
of  the  child,  opportunities  for  improving  reading,  the  kind 
of  food  that  is  served,  how  he  sleeps  (window  open,  open 
air,  windows  closed,  by  himself,  in  the  same  room  or  bed 
with  others),  are  father  and  mother  both  living,  does 
mother  work  outside  the  home,  etc.  The  teacher  should 
never  visit  the  home  for  the  mere  purpose  of  investi- 
gating. Regular  teachers  with  full  work,  especially  in 
cities,  should  not  think  of  taking  on  this  extra  burden. 
Home  conditions  can  usually  be  quite  accurately  deter- 
mined through  casual  conversations  with  the  child, 
through  his  compositions,  and  from  accidental  state- 
ments. The  parents  should  be  urged  to  come  to  school 
during  the  regular  session  at  least  twice  during  the  year. 
A  wise  teacher  will  learn  as  much  from  the  parent  about 
the  child's  home  life  as  the  parent  does  about  his  school 
on  these  visits. 

5.  Special  interests  and  capacities.  Any  special  abil- 
ities which  are  of  value  should  be  watched  and  their 
exercise  encouraged.  Children  who  are  backward  in 
school  may  become  even  brilliant  if  attention  is  given  to 
their  interests  and  capacities  which  lie  outside  of  school 
requirements.  Such  children  are  often  merely  discour- 
aged because  of  a  few  difficulties  at  school.  When  they 
learn  that  the  things  they  like  to  do  outside  of  school  are 
considered  of  value  by  the  teacher  their  self-confidence  is 
increased.  By  asking  a  child  to  explain  his  stamp  col- 
lection, his  rabbits,  pigeons,  or  chickens,  his  wireless,  a 
fishing  or  hunting  trip,  or  something  else  of  vital  im- 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        347 

portance  to  him;  a  teacher  may  gain  his  confidence  and 
increase  his  interest  in  and  respect  for  the  school.  It  is 
the  duty  of  every  teacher  to  advise  and  inspire  each  child  to 
work  along  lines  which  will  lead  him  to  economic  and  social 
success.  By  looking  for  his  strong  points  and  indicating 
their  value  the  teacher  may  often  start  a  child  to  working 
along  lines  which  will  ultimately  mean  success  in  life 
for  him.  Anyone  who  reads  the  biographies  of  great  men 
and  studies  the  influences  in  their  childhood  which  made 
for  their  final  successes  will  be  impressed  by  the  value  of 
such  advice  and  suggestion. 

Individualization  of  the  Recitation 

There  are  two  vital  elements  to  the  individualization 
of  the  recitation.  First,  every  child  should  have  some- 
thing to  do  during  the  entire  recitation.  Various  mem- 
bers of  the  class  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  idle 
while  attention  is  being  given  to  others.  Second,  the 
work  should  be  adjusted  to  the  different  individual 
needs.  It  is  possible  only  to  approach  these  ideals  in  an 
ordinary  recitation,  but  attention  given  to  them  is  likely 
to  bring  about  great  improvement. 

The  Number  of  Times  Pupils  Recite.  The  proper  dis- 
tribution of  the  recitation  time  among  the  twenty  or  thirty 
different  individuals  in  an  average  class  is  very  difficult. 
Here  is  a  problem  worthy  of  the  best  thought  and  atten- 
tion the  teacher  is  able  to  give.  Anyone  observing 
ordinary  recitations  will  soon  see  how  inadequate  they 
are  from  this  standpoint.  Four  or  five  children  usually 


348      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

do  the  work,  while  the  others  either  follow  or  give  no  at- 
tention whatever.  This  can,  of  course,  furnish  no  train- 
ing to  the  majority.  The  teacher  must  use  every  effort 
to  see  that  every  individual  is  furnished  some  kind  of  train- 
ing in  every  recitation. 

The  amount  of  talking  that  is  done  by  the  teacher  is 
important  in  this  connection.  Even  the  best  of  teachers 
admit  that  they  talk  too  much  and  allow  too  little  oppor- 
tunity for  the  children  to  recite.  A  number  of  careful 
investigations  have  revealed  the  truth  of  this  statement. 
A  principal  or  superintendent  who  will  have  some  ap- 
parently casual  observer  (but  who  in  reality  is  a  short- 
hand reporter)  take  down  everything  that  is  said  in  a 
few  classes  can  easily  convince  his  teachers  that  there  is 
ample  room  for  improvement  in  the  best  of  recitations. 

'  Wilson,  '15,  cites  the  investigation  of  a  public  school 
in  Manhattan  by  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research, 
which  found  by  reporting  18  recitations  stenographically, 
that  teachers  were  doing  the  thinking  and  talking  rather 
than  the  pupils ;  teachers  used  18,833  words ;  pupils 
5,675,  with  420  one-word  responses,  208  one-sentence 
responses,  and  only  20  extended  replies.  There  were 
622  '  what/  '  when/  and  '  where  '  questions,  and  but 
138  '  why  '  or  '  how/  Similarly,  Stevens,  '12,  by  sten- 
ographic reports  of  20  random  New  York  classes  of 
20-40  pupils,  found  64  per  cent  of  the  spoken  words 
teacher  activity  and  but  36  per  cent  of  the  spoken  words 
divided  among  pupils.  Different  classes  varied  from  116 
to  206  questions  and  answers  in  a  forty-five  minute 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        349 

I  period.  In  6  history  lessons,  the  percentage  of  questions 
involving  judgment  ranged  only  from  5-27.  In  a  group 
of  seven  classes  averaging  fewer  than  90  questions,  63 
per  cent  were  memory  questions  repeating  the  textbook, 
in  nine  other  classes,  73  per  cent.  Horn,  '15,  in  Teachers 
College  Record  prints  stenographic  reports,  and  Farmer, 
'14,  made  use  of  them  in  his  survey  of  Wisconsin  Normal 
Schools."  l  < 

In  all  such  work  the  teacher  should  feel  that  it  is  for 
his  benefit  that  reports  are  being  made  rather  than  for  the 
purpose  of  checking  him  up.  The  same  kind  of  work 
is  being  done  in  almost  every  line  of  human  activity 
to-day.  It  is  one  of  the  ways  of  allowing  teachers  or 
other  workers  to  see  themselves  as  others  see  them. 

Explanations  and  Exercises  for  Single  Children  or 
Small  Groups.  Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  take  con- 
siderable time  to  explain  something  to  an  individual  or  to 
a  small  group,  the  remainder  of  the  class  should  be  as- 
signed something  definite  to  do  and  the  explanation  made 
only  to  those  who  need  it.  Of  course,  when  the  explana- 
tion to  the  individual  is  one  which  everyone  else  needs, 
time  will  be  saved  by  requiring  all  to  give  attention.  In 
this  case  it  should  be  thoroughly  understood  that  the 
teacher's  explanation  is  meant  for  all. 

When  there  are  several  individuals  who  are  so  much 
in  advance  of  the  group  that  they  do  not  need  an  explana- 
tion which  is  necessary  for  the  majority,  they  should  be 

1  Micromotion  Applied  to  Education.  Douglas  and  Dealey,  Ped.  Sem. 
June,  1916. 


350       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

given  other  work  while  this  explanation  is  going  on. 
In  arranging  this  work  the  teacher  must  put  off  special 
explanations  until  the  close  of  the  period  unless  they  are 
of  such  short  duration  that  those  who  do  not  need  them 
may  be  engaged  upon  the  regular  work  at  this  time. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  : 

Arithmetic.     Seventh  grade  lesson  in  interest. 

The  lesson  is  an  introductory  one  in  this  subject  and  the 
problem  of  the  teacher  is  to  explain  how  to  find  the  interest 
at  any  or  several  different  rates  for  one  year.  This  will  be 
followed  later  by  explanations  involving  years  and  months, 
and  still  later,  years,  months,  and  days. 

The  problem  before  the  class  is  to  find  the  interest  on 
$600.00  for  1  yr.  at  7%. 

The  first  question  of  the  teacher,  after  stating  the  problem, 
is,  "How  many  are  sure  that  you  already  know  how  to  solve 
this  problem?" 

Five  of  a  class  of  thirty  raise  their  hands.  They  are 
told  that  they  may  work  a  type  problem  at  the  board.  The 
teacher  selected  this  problem  before  the  class  began.  The 
children  pass  to  the  board,  and  the  teacher  makes  his  explana- 
tion to  the  group  that  is  left. 

At  the  close  of  the  explanation  all  those  who  understand 
it  are  given  a  like  problem  to  work  at  their  seats.  For  those 
who  do  not  understand  it  the  explanation  is  repeated  and 
they  ask  questions  about  the  parts  that  they  do  not  under- 
stand. 

By  this  time  those  who  are  at  the  board  have  finished. 
The  teacher  has  selected  several  more  difficult  problems,  and 
these  more  advanced  children  are  told  that  they  may  go  ahead 
and  solve  as  many  of  them  as  they  can.  In  addition,  several 
drill  problems  in  the  four  fundamentals,  in  fractions,  and  in 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING  SCHOOL  WORK        351 

decimals  are  provided  for  those  who  finish  all  the  extra  work 
in  interest.  The  result  is  that  no  bright  child  is  allowed  to 
squander  his  time.  The  problem  of  dealing  with  children 
who  are  so  advanced  that  they  do  not  need  any  of  the  work 
described  above  will  be  taken  up  later  in  this  chapter. 

The  recitation  soon  reaches  .the  place  where  all  except  one 
or  two  of  the  slowest  in  arithmetic  understand  the  method. 
As  soon  as  each  one  fully  understands  it,  he  is  allowed  to  work 
upon  the  other  problems  which  have  been  mentioned  above. 

The  teacher  now  has  left  only  those  who  need  more 
help  than  the  majority.  While  all  the  others  are  busily  at 
work  he  devotes  himself  to  the  task  of  explaining  to  these 
backward  individuals.  He  has  full  opportunity  to  provide 
exercise  and  the  type  of  help  which  will  be  most  beneficial 
to  them  not  only  in  helping  them  to  solve  the  particular  problem 
at  hand  but  in  developing  initiative  and  independence  on  their 
part. 

Another  illustration : 

Arithmetic.  Mensuration  taking  care  of  difficulties  found 
in  the  assignment  of  the  previous  day. 

Six  problems  had  been  assigned  the  day  before.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  recitation  the  teacher  finds  upon  ques- 
tioning that,  of  a  class  of  thirty,  five  children  were  confident 
that  they  had  solved  all  their  problems  correctly.  They 
were  allowed  to  work  upon  more  difficult  problems  or  drill 
problems  during  the  first  part  of  the  lesson  while  the  assign- 
ment of  the  previous  day  was  being  taken  care  of. 

Children  who  found  special  difficulty  with  the  first  prob- 
lem were  asked  to  solve  it  at  the  board.  This  was  repeated 
with  every  problem.  Only  those  who  had  difficulty  with  a, 
problem  were  asked  to  solve  it.  As  soon  as  any  child  had 
overcome  his  difficulties,  he  was  allowed  to  work  upon  the 
drill  or  more  difficult  problems. 

In  a  few  moments  only  those  who  were  in  critical  need 


352       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

of  help  were  left.  The  teacher  helped  them  individually. 
He  could  rest  assured  that  he  was  doing  right  by  all  the  rest 
of  the  group  while  he  was  tarrying  with  one  of  these  individuals, 
for  they  all  were  busy  upon  work  which  was  suited  to  their 
abilities.  If  he  saw  that  a  child  was  merely  making  a  mechani- 
cal mistake,  he  told  him  that  his  method  was  correct  but  to 
look  for  an  error  in  calculation.  When  he  found  that  a  child 
was  making  a  mistake  in  reasoning,  the  teacher  worked  to  help 
him  to  reason  for  himself  and  did  not  merely  aid  him. 

To  make  sure  that  children  who  do  not  understand  do  not 
escape  work  by  reporting  that  they  have  solved  their  problems 
correctly,  the  teacher  may  check  the  work.  When  he  finds 
a  child  making  a  false  report,  he  takes  him  to  task  individually. 
The  children  soon  learn  that  it  is  to  their  advantage  to  make 
correct  reports. 

The  method  illustrated  above  has  many  advantages. 
Formerly  a  common  method  was  first  of  all  to  ask  - 
"  How  many  had  trouble  with  the  first  problem?  "  then 
"  How  many  i  got '  it?"  A  child  who  solved  it  cor- 
rectly was  allowed  to  copy  his  solution  on  the  board. 
This  procedure  was  repeated  with  each  problem.  Those 
who  had  been  unable  to  do  the  work  received  no  exer- 
cise but  sat  at  their  seats.  Those  who  did  not  need  this 
particular  exercise  did  the  work,  which,  indeed,  was  not 
real  work  since  they  had  already  done  it  once.  After 
the  problems  were  all  on  the  board,  the  bright  children 
who  did  not  need  the  exercise  (at  least  this  particular 
exercise)  were  asked  to  "  explain  "  their  problems.  This 
they  did  in  turn,  but  what  they  said  was  merely  the  story 
of  the  steps  they  took  rather  than  an  explanation.  The 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        353 

children  who  missed  problems  often  ignored  the  entire 
procedure.     It  is  certain  that  they  profited  little  by  it. 

Arithmetic.     Learning  the  combinations  in  a  lower  grade. 

Papers  containing  problems  in  addition  drills  are  passed 
around.  Each  child  is  given  six  problems  which  involve 
combinations  he  is  supposed  to  have  mastered. 

The  teacher  places  some  new  combinations  On  the  board 
and  tells  the  children  that  as  soon  as  each  one  is  finished  with 
the  problems  on  the  paper  he  may  pass  to  the  board  and 
attempt  those  he  finds  there.  Five  different  problems  are 
presented  in  this  way. 

Games  have  been  arranged  (dominoes,  card  games,  games 
involving  the  drawing  of  numbers,  etc.  They  all  necessitate 
adding  which  involves  the  combinations  to  twenty.)  The 
children  are  told  that  when  any  two  have  finished  all  the  prob- 
lems on  the  paper  and  on  the  board,  they  may  be  allowed  to 
play  one  of  the  games. 

In  playing  a  game  stress  is  placed  upon  the  ability  to  play 
together  without  interfering  with  the  rest  of  the  group.  It 
is  also  wise  to  arrange  the  drill  and  the  advanced  work  so  that 
the  slow  children  will  have  opportunity  to  play  the  games. 
If  all  have  the  same  kind  of  work,  only  the  brightest  in  arith- 
metic will  be  allowed  to  play.  This  may  not  be  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  either  the  slow  or  the  rapid  children. 

By  using  variations  of  the  above  method  a  practice 
teacher  in  the  Training  School  at  Greeley,  Colorado, 
taught  more  arithmetic  the  first  year  in  fifteen  minutes 
per  day  than  was  required  for  third-grade  children  in  the 
state  course  of  study.1  The  children  were  not  pushed  or 

1  The  teacher  in  the  ordinary  common  school  should  note  that  this 
result  was  obtained  by  a  practice  (inexperienced)  teacher,  time  not  exceed- 
ing 15  minutes  a  day. 
2  A 


354      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

hurried.  Every  means  was  used  to  keep  them  interested 
and  happy. 

Individualization  in  other  subjects  : 

It  must  be  admitted  that  arithmetic  lends  itself  to  such 
methods  more  readily  than  other  subjects.  In  the  con- 
tent subjects,  as  history  and  geography ,  individualiza- 
tion  must  be  done  in  the  assignment  rather  than  in  the 
recitation.  In  such  subjects  the  recitation  cannot  be 
used  to  furnish  exercise  when  knowledge  is  lacking.  How- 
ever, the  more  advanced  children  may  be  allowed  to 
recite  in  accordance  with  their  abilities.  The  slower 
ones  are  likely  to  profit  by  listening  to  these  recitations. 
In  art,  manual  training,  and  in  all  subjects  involving 
construction  the  work  during  the  recitation  or  exercise 
periods  should  be  entirely  individual.  Also  such  work  is 
possible  in  written  and  oral  English ;  the  child  should  be 
allowed  to  correct  his  own  errors  and  to  make  his  ex- 
pression more  effective. 

Individualization  in  Assignments 

The  study  period  is  the  ideal  time  for  individual  work, 
and  when  assignments  are  made  they  should  be  adjusted 
to  the  capacities  of  different  individuals  in  order  that  all 
may  profitably  occupy  their  time.  There  is  no  need  for 
that  oft-repeated  statement  of  the  idle  or  bothersome 
child  that  he  "  has "  his  lesson.  Assignments  which 
may  properly  occupy  everyone  should  be  made.  In 
making  them  with  this  purpose  in  mind  the  teacher 
need  not  discourage  slow  or  backward  children. 


METHODS   OF   ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        355 

The  Flexible  Assignment.  In  dealing  with  any  or- 
dinary class  the  teacher  will  find  that  there  is  much  ad- 
vantage gained  by  a  flexible  assignment. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Arithmetic:  Fifth  grade  assignment  in  fractions. 

Solve  the  first  four  problems.  Anyone  who  is  able  to 
solve  all  of  the  problems  will  receive  credit  for  doing  so.  If 
you  do  not  solve  all  of  them,  explain  on  your  paper  why  you 
did  not. 

1.  I  bought  seven  gallons  of  gasoline  at  20 \   cents   per 
gallon    (the   present   price)    and   paid  the   clerk   $1.50.   How 
much  change  did  he  give  me? 

2.  Six  yards  of  canvas  at  27J  cents   per  yard   cost   how 
much? 

3.  John,   Henry,   and  William  have  a  garden.     They  sell 
$2.25  worth  of  beans.     Henry,  whose  father  owns  the  ground, 
is  to  get  as  much  as  both  of  the  other  boys.     How  much  does 
each  get? 

4.  If  I  have  ten  marbles  and  give  James  three  of  them, 
what  is  the  smallest  fraction  his  share  may  be  expressed  in  ? 

5.  Multiply  8J  by  16. 

6.  Divide  $1.00  by  20J  to  see  how  many  gallons  of  gasoline 
a  dollar  will  buy. 

7.  How  much  per  year  does  my  car  need  for  gasoline  if  it 
goes  116  miles  on  9|  gallons  and  gasoline  is  22 J  cents  per 
gallon?     I  drive  5000  miles  per  year. 

This  entire  assignment  is  given  here  not  only  to  illus- 
trate flexibility  but  also  to  show  that  the  last  problem 
may  be  made  much  more  difficult  than  the  rest,  thus  giv- 
ing full  opportunity  for  any  exceptional  child  to  spend 
the  entire  time  profitably.  The  problems  are  all  of  value. 


356       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

No  child  can  justly  complain  that  he  does  not  need  to  be 
able  to  solve  them,  for  they  are  taken  from  everyday 
occurrences.  The  children  should  be  told  that  if  they 
cannot  solve  a  problem  they  should  leave  it  and  try  the 
next  one,  provided,  of  course,  they  have  applied  them- 
selves to  it  in  a  legitimate  way.  They  should  not  be 
allowed  to  escape  the  difficult  problem,  but  should  be  re- 
quired to  solve  it  before  they  leave  the  lesson. 

Illustration  in  History:  sixth-grade  class  studying  the 
colonial  period  assignment  by  teacher : 

"  Yesterday  we  finished  our  study  of  the  New  England 
colonies.  Today  we  shall  consider  the  southern  colonies  and 
will  take  Virginia  as  a  representative.  Will  you  try  to  find 
out  in  what  respects  the  colonists  in  Virginia  were  different 
from  those  in  Plymouth?  Look  any  place  in  your  text  where 
you  can  find  materials.  If  you  finish  with  the  text  you  may 
borrow  any  of  the  books  which  I  have  selected  and  placed 
upon  my  table.  They  all  contain  information  about  Virginia." 

For  an  illustration  of  a  flexible  assignment  in  geography 
see  the  first  illustrative  assignment  given  in  the  chapter 
on  The  Problem  Method. 

Adjusting  Assignments  to  Individual  Needs.  In  every 
assignment  it  should  be  possible  for  each  individual  to 
work  out  special  problems  of  his  own  or  to  work  to  over- 
come his  peculiar  difficulties.  There  are  two  special 
features  of  such  assignments. 

First,  the  especially  able  or  more  interested  children 
may  be  given  certain  work  to  do  aside  from  the  regular 
assignment.  In  studying  the  history  of  the  colonial 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        357 

period,  a  child  who  is  capable  of  doing  so  may  work  out 
special  problems  and  report  on  them  to  the  class,  or  he 
may  read  widely  in  biography  and  other  literature  related 
to  the  events  of  these  times.  In  geography  he  may  read 
and  report  books  on  travel,  commerce,  or  industries. 
In  written  and  oral  English  his  work  may  range  from 
writing  lyric  poetry  and  sonnets  to  the  imitation  of 
Stevenson.  In  no  case  is  it  necessary  to  allow  a  child 
to  get  the  idea  that  there  is  nothing  left  for  him  to  do, 
or  tha^  the  school  requirements  mark  the  limits  of  legiti- 
mate efforts.  It  is  little  to  be  wondered  that  children 
should  sometimes  think  that  only  the  work  of  the  regu- 
lar course  of  study  is  worth  while  in  their  educations 
when  school  authorities  so  often  take  this  very  stand. 

The  second  move  in  adjusting  assignments  to  individual 
needs  is  accomplished  by  pointing  out  special  places 
where  the  individual  is  weak  and  allowing  him  to  over- 
come such  weaknesses  as  a  part  of  the  fulfillment  of 
regular  assignments.  Such  work  has  been  described  in 
detail  in  the  chapter  on  Motives.  Let  us  consider  ex- 
amples of  this  kind  of  work  in  a  regular  school  system 
in  Wichita,  Kansas.1  In  that  city  the  experiment  was 
tried  of  checking  the  individual's  mistakes  in  spelling, 
phonics,  arithmetic,  and  other  drill  work.  In  the  regu- 
lar assignments  he  was  directed  to  work  on  his  special 
difficulties.  It  is  reported  that  rooms  in  which  this 
work  was  done  made  from  two  to  twenty  times  the 
gains  made  by  rooms  which  worked  in  the  regular  way. 
1  Elementary  School  Journal,  October,  1917. 


358      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

When  the  study  of  the  special  needs  of  different  indi- 
viduals is  made  a  definite  part  of  the  teacher's  plan,  he 
has  many  live  and  constantly  changing  problems  to  en- 
gage his  interests.  The  many-sided  nature  of  the  differ- 
ent individuals  in  a  regular  class  can  never  be  entirely 
known.  Illustrations  of  just  what  the  teacher  should 
look  for  are  furnished  here  merely  as  a  suggestion  for  a 
method  of  procedure ;  the  special  types  of  mistakes 
found  will  depend  entirely  upon  the  children  who  are 
being  studied  : 

English:  Should  the  individual  give  special  attention  to 
full,  direct,  and  clear  statements;  avoid  "run  on  construc- 
tion"; watch  tense  of  special  verbs  as  "has  not  come, "  "I 
saw/'  "I  did,"  and  "I  have  done/'  etc.? 

Arithmetic:  Does  the  individual  make  mistakes  in  adding 
special  combinations,  as  9  and  6,  0  and  a  number,  7  and  6, 
etc. ;  in  long  division  when  a  trial  divisor  is  necessary ;  in 
placing  the  decimal  point  in  division;  in  reading  problems 
correctly,  etc.? 

History :  Does  the  child  fail  to  relate  the  different  facts  he 
has  read;  show  lack  of  concentration;  fail  to  remember  the 
important  and  give  his  energy  to  the  unimportant  ? 

Spelling :  Records  should  be  kept  by  each  child  of  the  words 
he  mistakes  in  all  of  his  written  work.  Time  should  be  given 
him  to  learn  these. 

Writing:  Analysis  of  the  peculiar  discrepancies  in  align- 
ment, spacing,  letter  forms,  etc.,  of  each  individual,  followed 
by  practice  by  him  on  the  special  letters  and  groups  of  letters 
in  which  he  is  found  deficient. 

If  in  all  of  this  work  the  interest  of  the  children  is 
aroused  to  find  and  overcome  their  own  mistakes,  a  great 


METHODS   OF   ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        359 

deal  more  progress  will  result  and  the  work  will  be  far 
less  difficult  for  the  teacher.  Every  lesson  in  every  sub- 
ject may  be  made  an  occasion  for  each  child  to  work  upon 
some  difficulty  peculiar  to  himself  or  to  gain  something 
necessary  to  his  own  advancement.  During  study  periods 
the  teacher  often  does  his  best  work  helping  the  individual 
to  discover  and  overcome  his  difficulties. 

Adjusting  School  Requirements  to  Individuals 

Eliminate  Time  Factor.  First  of  all  the  child  should  be 
given  to  understand  that  it  is  not  how  long  he  studies  or 
remains  in  a  grade  that  counts,  but  how  well  he  uses 
his  time  and  what  he  accomplishes.  When  a  half  hour 
is  given  to  the  study  of  history,  no  two  of  a  group  of 
thirty  children  can  be  required  to  master  the  same  amount 
of  work.  The  school  must  do  one  of  two  things  in  this 
connection.  It  must  either  make  a  definite  assignment 
and  allow  those  who  finish  it  before  the  time  is  up  to  do 
something  else,  or  it  must  enrich  the  assignments,  broaden 
the  course  of  study,  and  expect  much  larger  results  from 
some  children  than  others.  The  elementary  school  is 
not  guilty  of  many  sins  in  adjusting  the  time  factor  when 
compared  with  the  high  school  or  the  university. 

Definite  Goal  of  Completion.  In  many  subjects,  es- 
pecially those  involving  drill,  a  definite  accomplishment  on 
the  part  of  the  individual  should  excuse  him  from  further 
drill.  The  following  limits  are  suggested  as  practical  at 
the  present  time : 


360      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

1.  When  seventy  per  cent  of  the  Courtis  speed  standard 
and  ninety  per  cent  accuracy  in  the  four  fundamentals    of 
arithmetic  have  been  reached. 

2.  When  mistakes  are  not  made  in  the  regular  work   in 
decimals  and  small  fractions  (or  at  least  in  ninety-five  per  cent 
of  calculations  involving  them). 

3.  In  writing,  when  a  score  of  seventy  on  the  Ayres  scale 
has  been  reached  and  it  is  evident  that  speed  is  not  being 
sacrificed. 

4.  In  spelling,  when  the  list  in  the  Ayres  scale  is  mastered,  or 
when  the  individual  does  not  make  mistakes  in  his  written  work. 

With  such  a  goal  in  view  many  children  who  would  not 
improve  very  much  in  ordinary  practice  will  work  hard 
and  reach  it.  In  answer  to  the  criticism  that  the  school 
should  never  be  satisfied  with  work  which  does  not 
reach  perfection  one  may  say  that  the  ability  to  use 
the  mechanics  of  writing,  spelling,  and  arithmetic  is 
the  end  rather  than  mechanical  perfection.  The  law  of 
diminishing  returns  signifies  that  when  a  child  practices 
writing,  for  example,  longer  than  he  needs  to  from  the 
standpoint  of  utility,  his  time  is  being  wasted.  The 
returns  he  gets  for  his  efforts  are  not  in  accordance  with 
what  he  has  a  right  to  expect.  He  does  not  need  the 
extra  ability  his  teacher  is  making  him  acquire.  The 
school  authorities  owe  it  to  him  as  an  individual  to  ar- 
range work  for  him  which  will  be  more  profitable. 

Special  Requirements  in  Special  Cases.  Special  re- 
quirements should  be  made  for  persons  who  would  be 
injured  by  being  forced  to  take  the  regular  course  of 
study  and  meet  all  its  demands.  There  are  many 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        361 

children  who  are  slower  than  average  in  arithmetic. 
They  should  not  be  retarded  on  account  of  their  lack  in 
this  one  subject.  By  promoting  them  and  assigning 
special  arithmetic  work  to  them,  the  school  often  saves 
such  children  from  becoming  repeaters,  and  before  the 
elementary  school  course  is  finished,  they  usually  acquire 
enough  mathematics  for  success  in  life.  Special  defects 
in  other  subjects  should  be  treated  in  the  same  way. 
Oral  reading  causes  great  difficulty  to  many  children 
either  on  account  of  a  halting  speech  or  natural  shyness. 
Its  value  is  not  so  great  that  a  child  should  be  retarded 
on  account  of  it.  Such  subjects  as  writing  and  spelling 
should  never  of  themselves  be  sufficient  reason  for  failure. 
The  teacher  should  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  a  class 
is  not  a  group  of  children  all  of  whom  have  the  same  ac- 
complishments or  who  have  all  reached  a  definite  point 
in  all  the  subjects  of  the  course  of  study.  A  class,  in  the 
modern  sense,  is  a  group  of  children  all  of  whom  are  dif- 
ferent in  all  the  subjects  but  who  gather  in  the  same  room 
for  administrative  and  social  advantages.  If  retarding  a 
child  on  account  of  one  or  two  subjects  is  likely  to  in- 
jure him  in  several,  he  should  be  sent  on.  Little  trouble 
will  be  made  for  an  intelligent  teacher  in  the  next  grade 
if  he  is  promoted  with  the  note  that  he  needs  special 
work  in  these  subjects. 

Adjusting  Classes  and  Groups 

During  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  been  marked 
improvement  in  our  educational  systems  in  meeting  the 


362       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

problems  of  adjusting  school  machinery  to  children  of 
various  abilities.1 

Promotion  Made  More  Often.  In  order  to  make  re- 
tardation of  less  injury  to  those  who  fail  and  also  to  al- 
low those  who  can  go  more  rapidly  full  opportunity  to  do 
so,  the  school  year  is  being  divided  into  several  terms  with 
many  opportunities  for  promotion.  In  the  traditional 
school  the  child  who  failed  had  to  repeat  an  entire  year, 
and  there  was  little  chance  for  an  exceptional  child  to 
work  far  enough  ahead  to  finish  two  years'  work  in  one. 
With  more  frequent  opportunities  for  promotion  a  child  who 
fails  may  lose  only  six  weeks  or  three  months.  His  extra 
term  is  not  spent  in  reviewing  everything  that  he  had 
the  term  before,  but  he  takes  the  work  which  he  needs 
in  order  to  be  promoted.  He  is  not  a  repeater  in  any 
sense.  He  merely  stays  a  short  time  longer  in  the 
grade. 

At  present  there  are  at  least  214  cities  in  the  United 
States  which  promote  twice  per  year.  There  are  251 
which  promote  at  any  time  during  the  year  and  are 
stressing  the  opportunity  for  gifted  children  to  get  along 
more  rapidly  than  the  average.  Trinidad,  Colorado, 
and  Aurora,  Illinois,  promote  four  times  a  year ;  St. 
Louis  and  Galesburg,  Illinois,  promote  three  times  a 
year ;  Stonington,  Connecticut,  promotes  every  ten 
weeks;  Salem,  Oregon,  promotes  every  six  weeks  in 

1  See  Holmes'  School  Organization  and  the  Individual  Child.  Worces- 
ter, Mass.;  and  Woods'  Provision  for  the  Gifted  Child.  Educational 
Adm.  and  Sup.,  March,  1917. 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        363 

the  elementary  grades ;  Mahoney,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Hutchinson,  Kansas,  promote  by  subject  and  pro- 
vide extra  subjects  for  their  gifted  children.  At  least 
36  cities  provide  rapidly  moving  sections  for  gifted 
children. 

No  school  system  is  up  to  the  standard  of  modern 
practice  unless  it  has  at  least  three  promotions  a  year. 
I  have  given  such  a  scheme  the  benefit  of  a  three  years' 
trial  and  find  that  retardation  is  practically  eliminated 
by  it.  Most  of  the  repeaters  in  the  regular  schools 
are  injured  by  being  required  to  repeat  an  entire  year's 
work.  When  given  the  opportunity,  only  a  very  small 
per  cent  fail  to  make  up  in  a  three  months'  extra  term 
what  they  have  missed.  They  also  learn  a  lesson  which 
stimulates  them  to  do  better  so  as  not  to  fail  again. 
The  old  way  so  discouraged  the  child  who  failed  and 
necessitated  so  much  bad  pedagogy,  that  his  educa- 
tional career  was  in  most  cases  ruined,  and  he  was  likely 
soon  to  be  repeating  again.  Under  the  new  scheme  the 
few  cases  which  are  the  result  of  inferior  heredity  or  home 
environment  will  be  made  up  for  by  the  large  number  who 
are  able  to  finish  a  year's  work  in  two  three-month  terms. 
The  acceleration  will  adequately  balance  the  retarda- 
tion. It  is  very  stimulating  to  the  work  of  the  entire 
school  to  have  children  who  show  the  ability,  and  others 
who  have  failed  but  have  made  up  their  work  in  one 
three-month  term,  go  on  to  the  next  grade.  They  are 
put  upon  their  mettle.  Those  with  whom  they  mingle 
in  the  next  grade  are  also  stimulated.  The  concrete 


364      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

results  of  good  work  are  in  evidence  throughout  the  en- 
tire year,  for  every  child  sees  and  recites  with  individuals 
who  have  obtained  their  rewards. 

Special  Classes.  In  addition  to  more  frequent  pro- 
motions and  the  provision  for  promotion  at  any  time  a 
child  shows  capacity  for  it,  special  classes  should  be 
formed.  At  present  a  large  number  of  cities  in  the  United 
States  maintain  such  classes  in  order  to  adjust  the 
work  of  the  school  to  the  different  individuals.  There 
are  at  least  122  cities  which  are  making  such  provision. 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  maintains  20  such  classes  for 
gifted  children ;  Boston  has  10.  The  superintendent  of 
the  Pittsburgh  schools  reported  to  Miss  Wood's  ques- 
tionnaire : l 

"  Our  system  provides  for  double  promotions,  elastic 
promotions,  and  for  special  classes  within  a  school.  These 
special  classes  are  presided  over  by  a  coaching-teacher 
whose  special  function  it  is  to  help  bright  children  and 
retarded  children.  The  classes  are  not  large.  We  try 
to  limit  the  number  which  a  coaching-teacher  shall  have 
in  her  room  at  any  one  time  to  eight. 

"  At  present  we  have  62  coaching-teachers  in  our 
elementary  schools  for  which  we  pay  a  total  salary  of 
some  $70,000.  Our  expense  for  the  psychological  clinic 
may  total  $5,000  more.  We  feel  convinced  that  every 
dollar  we  are  investing  in  this  department  of  our  schools  is 
an  economy  rather  than  an  expense.  Our  board  of  educa- 
tion endorses  it  heartily  without  a  question." 

1  Op.  dt. 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        365 

Work  of  this  type  is  being  done  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
Denver,  Fall  River,  New  York  City,  and  many  other 
places. 

Specified  Time  for  Individual  Work.  In  a  number  of 
cities  the  school  programs  are  so  arranged  that  special 
periods  for  individual  instruction  are  provided.  At 
Ashland  and  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  and  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
a  half  hour  each  day  is  given  over  to  it.  At  Racine, 
Wisconsin,  a  forty-minute  period  is  provided  in  both  the 
forenoon  and  the  afternoon  for  individual  instruction. 
In  a  great  many  Junior  and  Senior  high  schools  super- 
vised study  follows  each  recitation.  During  this  period 
the  teacher  is  supposed  to  work  with  individuals  who 
need  further  assignments  or  special  help. 

The  Purely  Individual  Scheme  of  the  San  Francisco  Normal 

School 

In  San  Francisco  Burk  has  worked  out  a  scheme  which 
is  purely  individual  in  all  subjects  and  extends  through- 
out all  of  the  eight  grades.  The  methods  of  carrying 
out  such  a  plan,  stated  briefly,  are : 

1.  The  entire  course  of  study  in  each  subject  for  the 
eight  years  is  planned  and  printed  in  a  series  of  handbooks. 
Explanations  of  every  new  step  are  included.     The  child 
spends  his  time  working  out  the  subject  matter  instead 
of  reciting. 

2.  The    teacher    does    not    conduct    recitations.     He 
usually  sits  at  his  desk  and  when  a  child  needs  help  he 
goes  to  his  teacher  for  it. 


366       MODERN    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

3.  When  a  book  has  been  completed,  the  next  one  is 
provided,  and  so  on  until  the  course  has  been  finished. 

4.  Reviews    are   provided   in   the   books.     If   a    child 
makes  a  perfect  score,  he  may  be  allowed  to  skip  some  of 
the  reviews.     The  child  who  finds  difficulties  takes  more 
reviews. 

For  the  purpose  of  mastering  a  definite,  prescribed 
course  of  study  the  scheme  just  mentioned  is  excellent. 
From  that  standpoint  it  is  bound  to  receive  widespread 
recognition.  No  school  can  afford  to  ignore  the  value 
of  such  a  method.  However,  it  is  valuable  only  in  the 
phases  of  education  for  which  the  prescribed  course  is 
designed.  An  equally  important  feature  of  education 
is  the  development  of  the  individual  as  a  social  being 
and  the  uses  of  social  cooperation  and  the  social  motive 
in  his  instruction.  The  purely  individual  scheme  may 
be  used  in  part  of  the  work  of  any  school  but  not 
in  all  of  it. 

Suggestions  for  Common  School  Practice 

Some  of  the  topics  in  this  chapter  deal  with  adminis- 
trative features  which  are  not  controlled  by  the  teacher. 
This  brings  up  the  question :  what  can  the  teacher  do  for 
the  individual  if  he  is  working  in  a  mechanical  school 
system  ?  The  answer  is  this  :  he  can  approach  the  real- 
ization of  his  ideals  by  doing  as  much  as  is  possible  in 
each  of  the  five  ways  suggested  in  the  foregoing  pages. 
The  most  fruitful  results,  however,  are  likely  to  come 
from :  (l)  the  study  of  individuals,  (2)  individualizing 


METHODS   OF  ADJUSTING   SCHOOL  WORK        367 

recitations,  (3)  broadening  the  course  of  study  for  gifted 
children,  and  (4)  focusing  the  application  of  individuals 
upon  their  own  needs.  Even  in  the  most  extremely 
traditional  school  there  is  opportunity  for  good  work 
along  these  four  lines. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION 

The  Primary  Features  of  Practice.  There  are  five 
definite  practical  features  of  socializing  instruction,  and 
it  is  the  aim  of  this  chapter  to  assume  the  necessity  for 
socialization  as  already  demonstrated  and  leave  out  most 
of  the  theory.  Concrete  illustrations  will  prove  their 
usefulness  far  better  than  theoretical  discussions. 

1.  The  entire  school  should  be  socialized. 

2.  Each  room  and  grade  should  be  socialized. 

3.  The  social  method  should  be  used  in  recitations  as 
frequently  as  it  seems  to  be  profitable. 

4.  The  subject   matter  that    is    assigned    should    be 
selected  from  the  community  or  have  social  value  when- 
ever it  is  possible  and  profitable. 

5.  In  the  regular  lessons  and  in  dealing  with  the  chil- 
dren a  close  relation  with  the  home  and  the  life  of  the 
community  should  be  established. 

In  realization  of  all  of  these  aims  the  teacher  should 
understand  that  the  fundamental  principle  in  any  social- 
ization is  the  value,  stimulation,  and  help  received  by 
each  individual  when  two  or  more  are  gathered  together. 
We  must  bring  this  value  to  the  front.  As  a  result  we 

368 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  369 

have  the  social  motive,  cooperation,  and  the  gain  from 
ideas  absorbed  through  imitation,  competition,  and  sug- 
gestion. It  is  possible  to  carry  on  a  class  without  de- 
riving benefit  from  any  of  these  advantages,  but  it  is  the 
business  of  the  wise  teacher  to  socialize  the  work  and 
thus  make  capital  of  the  natural  resources  which  school 
and  class  work  provide. 

The  Socialization  of  the  School 

A  school  may  consist  of  from  one  to  fifty  rooms.  When 
there  is  more  than  one  room,  the  spirit  and  work  of  the 
children  in  the  different  rooms  is  improved  by  bringing 
about  friendly  relations  between  them.  The  children 
of  a  school  should  feel  that  they  are  citizens  and  mem- 
bers of  the  entire  school  as  well  as  of  their  special  rooms. 
When  this  ideal  is  fully  realized,  they  enjoy  going  to 
school  and  do  better  work  while  there.  There  are  three 
special  ways  of  socializing  a  school. 

i.  Projects  by  the  Entire  School.  There  should  al- 
ways be  some  activity  in  which  the  school  is  taking  an 
interest.  When  something  of  this  nature  is  provided,  it 
becomes  possible  for  every  child  in  every  grade  to  feel 
that  he  has  a  responsibility  to  the  school  and  a  definite 
opportunity  to  do  something  for  it. 

Illustrations  of  social  school  projects  : 

A  thrift  stamp  campaign.  In  many  cities  the  schools 
were  provided  with  regular  United  States  thrift  stamps. 
In  some  places,  for  example  in  Seattle,  the  principals 
made  the  purchase  of  these  stamps  the  center  of  a 

2B 


370      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

patriotic  and  saving  campaign.  At  a  certain  time  ea-ch 
day  all  the  children  who  had  brought  money  to  buy 
stamps  were  sent  to  the  office  of  the  principal,  who  took 
charge  of  the  sales.  In  this  way  he  came  in  regular 
contact  with  most  of  the  children.  They  soon  learned  to 
know  him  as  a  coworker  in  their  campaign  rather  than 
as  a  disciplinarian.  Some  of  the  principals  testified 
that  this  period  became  one  of  real  interest  to  both  them- 
selves and  the  children.  The  stories  of  how  they  had 
been  able  to  obtain  their  money,  as  spontaneously  told 
by  them  when  they  came  to  buy  stamps,  gave  the  prin-. 
cipal  valuable  light  on  conditions  in  the  homes  and  upon 
the  natures  of  the  children. 

Schools  were  not  rated  by  the  actual  amount  that  the 
children  saved  but  by  the  per  cent  of  the  enrollment 
which  was  regularly  saving.  A  $200.00  a  week  school 
might  not  stand  as  high  as  a  $25.00  a  week  school,  for 
the  first  one  might  be  only  a  sixty  per  cent  school  while 
the  second  might  be  a  ninety  per  cent  school.  In  this 
way  the  schools  of  the  poorer  districts  were  not  hope- 
lessly outclassed. 

The  many  ways  that  children  worked  to  help  their 
school  secure  a  large  per  cent  of  regular  savers  illustrate 
the  true  social  value  of  such  a  project.  Meetings  were 
held  to  discuss  ways  of  getting  every  child  into  the  game. 
Plans  were  laid  to  provide  work  for  the  child  who  could 
not  get  money  from  home,  so  that  he  might  become  a 
saver.  One  boy  brought  a  quarter  to  school  and  told 
his  companions  that  he  was  going  to  buy  ammunition  for 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  371 

his  rifle  with  it.  They  persuaded  him  to  buy  a  thrift 
stamp  instead. 

A  bird  house  campaign.  Several  years  ago  the  super- 
intendent of  the  St.  Cloud,  Minnesota,  schools  dis- 
covered that  the  boys  in  the  city  schools  were  killing 
birds  with  slingshots.  After  several  futile  attempts  to 
stop  it  by  conscientiously  collecting  all  the  slingshots 
brought  to  school  and  by  regularly  lecturing  the  boys 
for  their  wickedness,  the  idea  of  starting  a  bird  house 
campaign  was  evolved  and  put  into  practice  by  the  in- 
structor in  woodwork. 

The  plan  was  to  have  each  boy  in  each  school  provide 
homes  for  as  many  birds  as  would  accept  them  and  to 
look  after  the  welfare  of  any  birds  that  would  make  their 
homes  in  his  houses.  It  was  only  a  matter  of  a  short 
time  until  bird  houses  became  one  of  the  chief  topics  of 
conversation  among  the  boys  of  St.  Cloud,  and  he  who 
dared  injure  a  bird  did  so  at  considerable  risk  to  himself. 

The  project  worked  out  on  a  large  enough  scale  to 
socialize  an  entire  school  system.  There  is  no  question 
about  its  bringing  the  boys  of  the  different  rooms  in  every 
school  into  closer  sympathy  with  each  other  and  with 
the  work  of  the  school  in  solving  the  bird  conservation 
problem. 

A  school  aquarium.  At  very  little  expense  an  aquarium 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  long  by  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  wide 
can  be  constructed  in  some  protected  spot  on  the  school 
grounds.  The  chief  expense  will  be  the  piping  of  the 
water.  The  children  should  understand  that  the  aqua- 


372       MODERN   ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

rium  belongs  to  them,  and  that  they  are  to  care  for  it  and 
the  fish  and  animals  in  it.  Each  spring  they  should  be 
allowed  to  take  a  day  to  fill  it  with  water  and  the  boys 
and  girls  should  be  encouraged  to  bring  fish  of  all  kinds, 
frogs,  crayfish,  clams,  water  spiders,  salamanders,  etc., 
to  stock  it.  In  the  late  fall,  if  the  climate  is  such  that  the 
water  would  freeze  to  the  bottom  of  the  pool  and  so  kill 
all  the  fish  and  animals,  the  children  should  be  allowed 
to  drain  it  and  take  the  animals  to  streams  in  the  neigh- 
borhood or  to  indoor  aquariums.  The  important  feature 
is  the  children's  part  in  care,  stocking,  and  protection. 
Many  schools  have  aquariums  which  are  cared  for  en- 
tirely by  the  janitor,  and  the  children  are  warned  to  stay 
away  from  them. 

Other  like  projects  are  the  beautifying  of  the  school 
and  grounds  by  the  children,  the  planting  of  trees  by  the 
children  on  Arbor  day,  a  school  plan  for  special  days,  a 
school  skating  rink,  etc.  In  any  undertaking  of  this 
nature  as  much  socialization  as  possible  should  be  brought 
about.  The  way  these  projects  are  often  done  does  not 
bring  about  very  worth  while  or  lasting  results.  The 
following  method  of  socializing  and  developing  the 
Christmas  spirit  was  used  in  the  Francis  Parker  School : 1 

SCHOOL  SOCIALIZATION  AND  THE  CHRISTMAS  SPIRIT 

The  following  plan  of  utilizing  the  school  shop  has  been 
used  as  a  means  of  developing  a  broader  spirit  of  Christmas 
among  children,  dealing  with  altruistic  motives  rather  than 

1  Taken  from  The  Social  Motive  in  School  Work,  Francis  Parker  School 
Publication,  June,  1912. 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  373 

the  selfish  and  personal,  and  using  cooperative  rather  than 
individual  methods.  The  constructive  interests  have  been 
used  as  a  basis,  and  the  play  element  recognized  by  introducing 
the  favorite  character  of  Christmas,  Santa  Glaus. 

In  every  household  in  which  there  are  or  have  been  children, 
there  are  countless  toys,  dolls,  books,  and  games  in  various 
stages  of  dissolution  and  disrepair.  Many  of  these  have 
outlived  their  usefulness  in  that  particular  household,  but 
with  the  addition  of  a  little  spare  time  and  ingenuity,  together 
with  a  touch  of  color  to  brighten  them  up,  they  would  still 
make  most  acceptable  Christmas  gifts  to  many  a  child  in 
poorer  circumstances.  To  utilize  this  repair  work  as  a  feature 
of  our  manual  training  a  " Santa  Claus  Annex  Shop"  was 
established. 

It  was  suggested  to  some  of  the  children  that  such  toys 
could  well  be  repaired  in  the  school.  Notice  was  sent  to  the 
parents  that  the  school  would  undertake  to  put  into  good 
condition  such  toys  as  could  be  furnished.  These  toys  would 
then  be  given  to  settlements  in  more  needy  parts  of  the  city 
for  distribution. 

The  next  step  was  to  present  the  scheme  to  the  pupils  of 
the  whole  school  in  a  "  morning  exercise."  Upon  reaching 
school  one  morning  the  pupils  were  confronted  with  the  fol- 
lowing notices  prominently  displayed  on  posters  in  the  main 
hall. 

WANTED  —  WANTED  —  AT  ONCE 

Wanted  at  once  good  workers  in  the  following  trades : 

25    mechanics  —  must    have    a    good    knowledge    of    auto 

repair  work,  aerial  machines,  boats,  engines  (both  stationary 

and  locomotive),  clockwork  motors,  agricultural  implements, 

wagon  repairs,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

20  painters  —  good  at  retouching.     Must  have  experience 

in  mixing  and  judging  colors  and  be  able  to  handle  brushes  well. 


374       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

20  surgeons  —  (in  hospital) .  Skill  needed  in  grafting  arms 
and  legs  and  replacing  new  heads.  Those  with  previous 
experience  in  either  hospital  or  private  practice  preferred. 

10  veterinary  surgeons  —  a  good  knowledge  of  the  anatomy 
of  dogs,  Teddy  bears,  and  horses  is  necessary. 

10  book  repair  men  —  neat  and  careful  workers,  able  to 
handle  needle  and  paste  brush  well. 

10  repair  men  for  game  department. 

20  wrappers  and  packers  —  wanted  for  packing  and  shipping 
department.  Only  neat  workers  need  apply. 

1  foreman  arid  1  inspector  wanted  in  each  of  the  following 
departments : 

Mechanical  Book  Repair 

Painting  Game  Department 

Hospital  Wrapping  and  Packing 

Application  may  be  made  in  person  or  by  letter.  Steady 
work  promised  from  now  until  December  20.  Good  Hours. 
Good  Wages. 

(Signed)     SANTA  GLAUS. 

P.  S.  —  This  is  my  busy  season,  and  I  have  appointed  Mr. 
Wahlstrom  superintendent  of  my  Annex  Shop  at  the  Francis 
W.  Parker  School.  Particulars  may  be  obtained  from  him 
or  from  any  of  the  teachers  in  said  school. 

-Applications  should  be  in  by  December  1. 

The  value  of  the  Santa  Glaus  Toy  Shop  was  manifested  in 
many  ways.  Aside  from  the  thought  of  working  for  others, 
which  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  scheme,  the  feeling  of  good- 
fellowship  which  pervaded  the  work  was  most  noticeable. 
The  kindly  and  sympathetic  interest  of  the  older  boys  who 
filled  the  role  of  inspectors  and  foremen  in  the  struggles  of  the 
younger  people  in  some  difficult  piece  of  repair  work  helped 
to  unite  the  school.  High  school  boys  " renewed  their  youth" 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  375 

and  also  discovered  some  interesting  applications  of  their 
recent  physics  experiments  while  investigating  the  " innards" 
of  some  mechanical  toy.  The  children  of  primary  grades 
were  busy  with  paste  pot  and  shears,  and  it  would  be  hard 
to  recognize  in  the  gay  and  festive  results  of  their  labors  the 
commonplace  cardboard  boxes  which  had  been  brought  in 
for  the  packing  of  the  finished  product. 

Although  there  was  a  spirit  of  play  in  the  work  it  was  inter- 
esting to  note  the  seriousness  with  which  the  pupils  entered 
into  it.  Of  no  small  value  was  the  insight  into  industrial 
organization  and  subdivision  of  labor,  which  was  appreciated 
by  even  the  youngest  worker.  And  underneath  it  all  was  the 
joyous  spirit  of  Christmas,  the  knowledge  that  the  work  was  a 
labor  of  love,  in  order  that  someone  less  fortunate  might  have 
his  share  of  Christmas  joy. 

2.  Regular  Assembly  or  Morning  Exercises.  When- 
ever there  is  a  room  in  the  building  that  is  large  enough, 
it  should  be  regularly  used  for  general  assemblies  of  the 
entire  school.  By  gathering  together  at  regular  inter- 
vals the  children  come  into  contact  with  each  other  and 
acquire  mutual  interests.  When  there  is  no  room  large 
enough,  many  schools  use  the  hallway  for  assemblies. 
In  the  early  fall  and  in  the  spring  and  summer  they  may 
be  held  out-of-doors. 

Such  assemblies  for  elementary  school  children  have 
long  been  a  central  feature  of  leading  schools.  In  the 
Francis  Parker  School  they  represent  a  part  of  the  reg- 
ular plan  of  education  and  are  regarded  by  those  in  charge 
as  being  as  important  as  any  of  the  regular  course  of 
study  work. 


376       MODERN    ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

The  following  is  a  description  by  the  principal  of  how  a 
school  of  from  300  to  350  pupils  worked  out  a  successful 
system  of  assemblies  : 

"  After  reading  of  successful  work  of  this  kind  in  other 
schools,  all  the  teachers  and  the  principal  agreed  that 
some  kind  of  regular  assemblies  in  which  all  the  children 
should  participate  would  materially  help  our  own  school. 
We  had  a  large  room  which  was  used  for  group  activities, 
singing,  meetings  of  parents,  etc.,  and  we  decided  to  make 
use  of  this  room  for  our  assemblies. 

"  At  first  we  planned  to  have  them  once  each  week  at 
the  second  hour  (10  o'clock).  Experience  soon  taught 
us  that  it  would  be  wise  to  give  a  definite  amount  of  time 
and  demand  that  programs  should  be  planned  which 
would  not  take  more  than  the  allotted  time.  The  period 
was  finally  fixed  at  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  minutes. 

"  In  schools  which  had  described  their  programs  in 
booklets  and  in  magazine  articles  the  following  features 
had  been  stressed :  (1)  informality  of  discussions  and 
programs,  (2)  programs  planned  by  the  children  who 
volunteered  of  their  own  accord,  (3)  some  regular  phase 
of  the  school  work  should  be  presented  rather  than 
spectacular  materials  of  the  old  rhetorical  nature,  and 
(4)  as  many  children  as  possible  of  the  room  performing 
should  take  part  rather  than  a  few  who  had  special 
abilities. 

"  In  beginning  our  work  we  soon  found  that  we  could 
not  count  on  an  assembly  once  per  week  and  comply  with 
the  four  ideals  of  the  preceding  paragraph.  Yet  those 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  377 

who  were  doing  such  work  declared  that  these  ideals  were 
absolute  essentials,  and,  furthermore,  they  maintained  and 
illustrated  by  pictures  and  otherwise  that  they  were  suc- 
cessful in  realizing  them. 

"  As  a  compromise  we  decided  not  to  give  up  the  as- 
semblies because  we  could  not  come  up  to  the  regulations 
for  ideal  work,  and  we  went  ahead  as  best  we  could. 
After  waiting  for  someone  to  volunteer  to  give  a  program 
until  two  assemblies  were  missed,  the  principal  went  to 
the  different  teachers  and  told  them  to  work  out  something, 
no  matter  how  '  ordinary/  and  be  ready  to  present  it. 
He  drafted  a  fourth  grade  for  the  next  week.  The  as- 
sembly came  in  due  time.  The  fourth  grade  appeared. 
All  the  '  ideals  '  were  violated.  The  program  was  very 
formal.  The  children  sang  some  songs  which,  it  must  be 
admitted,  came  from  their  music  work.  A  composition 
was  read  by  the  best  pupil  in  the  room  (violating  rule 
No.  4).  A  declamation  was  given  by  a  girl  who  liked 
to  declaim,  and  a  violin  solo,  which  was  encored,  finished 
the  program. 

:( However,  this  was  a  beginning.  Room  followed 
room,  the  programs  usually  quite  stiff  and  formal.  It 
was  useless  to  attempt  to  get  the  children  to  act  '  nor- 
mal '  when  performing  before  a  crowd  of  three  hundred 
of  their  companions,  all  the  teachers,  and  usually  a  number 
of  parents. 

"  The  scheme  was  continued  for  three  years.  Grad- 
ually we  began  to  approach  our  ideals.  Our  programs 
became  less  and  less  rigid.  After  long  experience  both 


378       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

the  teachers  and  the  children  became  expert  at  discover- 
ing features  of  regular  school  work  which  made  splendid 
exercises  for  the  assemblies.  The  tendency  of  the  prin- 
cipal to  omit  meetings  on  account  of  lack  of  material  gave 
place  to  the  regular  maintenance  of  the  assemblies  twice 
instead  of  once  per  week.  The  children  from  the  different 
rooms  would  go  to  him  and  volunteer  something  for  their 
room.  Finally,  there  were  always  five  or  six  rooms  on 
the  waiting  list.  The  programs  gradually  improved. 
More  of  the  mothers  came.  There  were  many  programs 
which  could  be  definitely  pointed  to  as  stimulating  bet- 
ter work  in  the  various  school  subjects  both  on  the  part  of 
the  children  who  gave  the  programs  and  those  who  looked 
on.  The  assembly  was  regarded  by  the  children  as  a 
bright  part  of  their  school  work.  Many  times  the  prin- 
cipal overheard  children  of  the  various  grades  make 
mention  of  the  fact  that  this  was  the  '  day  for  the  as- 
sembly.' Their  attitudes  and  voices  indicated  that  they 
prized  it  highly." 

This  is  a  very  good  description  of  what  may  be  ex- 
pected in  any  school  which  tries  to  have  informal  or  social 
assemblies  without  any  previous  experience  in  the  work. 
Even  after  three  years  the  principal  of  the  school  men- 
tioned above  felt  that  the  work  would  be  improved  with 
more  time  and  attention.  The  programs  varied  in  their 
perfection  in  reaching  his  standards.  After  three  years 
some  of  them  were  rated  very  low.  But  with  experi- 
ence the  majority  of  the  programs  became  better,  and  the 
three  years'  trial  was  decidedly  profitable, 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF  INSTRUCTION  379 

ILLUSTRATIVE  PROGRAMS  : 

Fifth-grade  geography.  The  school  had  been  able  to 
obtain  for  its  geography  museum  a  set  of  samples  of  partly 
completed  shoes.  Some  were  merely  soles;  others  varied 
from  this  all  the  way  to  the  completed  shoe.  The  children 
made  a  study  of  a  shoe  factory  and  ascertained  just  how  the 
different  parts  were  made.  They  learned  of  the  piece  work 
system,  how  each  worker  does  only  a  very  small  part  of  the 
work  in  making  the  shoe.  They  arranged  a  visit  to  a  shoe 
factory  for  assembly.  Several  of  their  number  were  chosen 
for  workers.  One  was  the  manager.  Another  was  a  visitor. 
The  last  named  visited  the  " factory,"  and  as  the  " manager" 
showed  her  the  different  steps  in  making  the  shoe,  the  "  work- 
man" explained  it  to  her  so  that  everyone  in  the  room  could 
understand  it.  The  several  (eight  or  ten)  stages  of  making  a 
shoe  were  very  well  explained. 

Eighth-grade  hygiene.  The  children  of  the  eighth  grade 
were  learning  practical  hygiene.  They  decided  to  give  a 
demonstration  before  the  assembly.  They  chose  one  of  their 
number  who  would  represent  the  " nurse"  who  was  instructing 
them.  She  called  upon  them  to  illustrate  how  to  tie  the 
different  bandages ;  how  to  put  out  the  blaze  if  one's  cloth- 
ing caught  fire;  how  to  figure  out  antidotes  for  poisons  and 
what  to  give  for  emetics  ;  how  to  sterilize  and  care  for  different 
wounds ;  how  to  care  for  the  finger  nails  and  the  teeth.  This 
was  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  program. 

First-grade  arithmetic.  A  first-grade  class  which  had  been 
doing  some  especially  good  work  in  arithmetic,  gave  an  ex- 
hibition in  the  assembly.  They  discussed  the  different  com- 
mon weights  and  measures  and  their  uses.  They  took  up 
the  pieces  of  money  and  showed  how  well  they  knew  them. 
They  made  change  with  five,  ten,  and  twenty-five  cent  pieces. 
They  did  some  very  good  work  in  addition  and  multiplication 


380       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

and  finished  by  playing  some  games  involving  addition.  The 
rest  of  the  school  was  intensely  interested  in  seeing  the  little 
children  perform.  This  program  was  much  more  interesting 
than  speaking  and  singing  would  have  been,  although  these 
two  forms  of  expression  are  valuable  enough  when  not  over- 
worked. After  this  program  a  boy  in  the  third  g?ade  who  did 
not  do  his  arithmetic  very  well  was  heard  to  say  to  another, 
"  We  had  better  get  busy.  Some  of  those  little  ' kids'  can  do 
better  than  some  of  us." 

Sixth-grade  history.  The  sixth  grade  planned  to  dramatize 
the  history  of  Plymouth  Colony  for  the  assembly.  They 
worked  for  two  weeks  during  the  regular  history  period ;  wrote 
their  play ;  made  the  costumes  of  cardboard,  paper,  and  cheap 
cloth ;  staged  and  presented  it  to  the  rest  of  the  school.  It  was 
a  great  success. 

Sixth-grade  book  club.  In  their  English  work  the  sixth 
grade  had  formed  a  book  club.  They  had  their  officers  who 
presided  at  different  class  periods.  They  read  and  discussed 
good  books  as  a  part  of  their  English  work.  For  an  assembly 
a  meeting  of  this  club  was  staged.  The  president  presided. 
The  secretary  read  some  very  interesting  minutes  from  the 
last  meeting.  Different  members  reported  upon  books  that 
they  had  read  during  the  previous  month.  Discussions  of 
these  books  by  the  club  followed.  The  entire  program  was 
quite  interesting.  It  represented  excellent  rules  of  order.  The 
books  discussed  were  quite  worth  hearing  about.  Children  in 
other  grades  checked  some  of  these  from  the  library  as  a  result. 

Second-grade  rhythm  work.  The  second  grade  had  been 
doing  a  great  deal  of  rhythm  work.  In  this  they  had  learned 
many  excellent  folk  dances.  At  an  assembly  they  went  through 
them  for  the  rest  of  the  children,  who  showed  a  decided  interest. 

Other  special  work.  The  assembly  was  used  to  stimulate 
patriotic  sentiment.  Each  room  was  urged  by  the  principal 
to  master  as  many  of  the  patriotic  songs  as  possible  and  to  be 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  381 

able  to  sing  all  the  words  without  books.  Plans  for  the  entire 
school  were  presented  here.  Announcements  were  made  by 
children  of  different  rooms  of  special  work  in  their  rooms  or 
of  interesting,  patriotic,  or  educational  meetings  or  shows 
that  were  going  on  in  town.  At  rare  times  general  discipline 
was  discussed.  It  does  not  pay  to  take  up  much  time  in  these 
assemblies  either  for  announcements  or  instructions  by  the 
principal  or  teachers. 

One  of  the  happy  results  of  this  and  other  socialization 
in  this  school  was  the  attitude  of  social  independence 
which  it  developed  in  the  majority  of  the  children.  When- 
ever one  was  transferred  to  another  school,  he  became  the 
social  leader  and  the  "  star  "  in  entertainments. 

Persons  visiting  the  school  noted  especially  the  able 
presentations  of  ordinary  subject  matter  by  children. 

The  vital  points  for  the  principal  or  teacher  who  is  con- 
sidering putting  such  a  scheme  into  practice  are  the 
four  ideals  towards  which  the  school  worked.  The  fact 
that  they  were  only  partially  realized  after  three  years 
must  be  remembered.  As  stated  in  other  chapters  —  and 
it  cannot  be  repeated  too  often  —  most  things  that  are 
worth  while  in  the  improvement  of  a  school  must  be 
worked  for  and  seldom  come  until  after  considerable 
lapse  of  time.  They  must  be  evolved. 

3.  Cooperation  and  Interroom  Interests.  The  gen- 
eral assemblies  which  have  just  been  described  will  serve 
to  interest  the  children  of  one  grade  in  what  is  going  on 
in  another.  Other  ways  of  cooperation  and  stimulation 
between  rooms  should  be  used  whenever  profitable. 
Some  special  ways  of  bringing  this  about  might  be  these : 


382      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

(1)  Children  from  one  room  may  visit  another.     It  is 
usually  best  for  the  class  to  elect  two  or  three  children 
whose  work  will  not  suffer  from  such  a  visit.     They  come 
back  and  report  the  interesting  things  that  they  have 
seen,  and  the  children  discuss  features  of  the  other  room 
which  might  be  employed  to  advantage  by  themselves. 
In  some  of  the  schools  of  Seattle  children  visit  another 
building.     When  they  return,  they  report  in  the  same 
way  as  described  for  different  rooms.     This  practice,  if 
intelligently  supervised  by  the  teacher,  will  develop  a 
better  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  children  towards  the 
work  of  their  own  room. 

(2)  Good  work  which  is  done  in  one  room  may  be  sent 
to  another  for  inspection  by  the  children.     A  child  who 
has  written  an  extra  good  composition  or  who  has  made 
an  interesting  and  important  discovery  may  go  to  another 
room  and  read  or  report  to  the  children  there.     In  oral 
English  the  children  in  the  upper  grades  may  practice 
telling  stories  in  order  that  they  may  tell  them  interest- 
ingly to  children  in  the  lower  grades.     In  written  English 
the  children  in  one  room  may  write  letters  to  those  in 
another  room. 

(3)  Comparative  improvement  in  regular  subjects.     If 
the  principal  will  have  made,  every  two  or  three  months, 
charts  which  show  the  percentage  of  improvement  dif- 
ferent rooms  are  making,  they  will  be  a  direct  cause  for 
better  work.     The   charts   should   show   speed   and   ac- 
curacy in  the  fundamentals  of  arithmetic,  the  number 
of  mistakes  per  page  made  in  written  work  (not  only  in 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  383 

English  but  in  other  subjects),  the  percentage  of  im- 
provement in  spelling  (both  in  spelling  exercises  and  in  all 
written  work).  Children  will  be  made  to  see  that  their 
slovenly  work  causes  the  per  cent  of  improvement  in  their 
entire  room  to  fall.  It  is  best  not  to  make  too  much  of 
such  comparisons  because  there  may  be  a  number  of 
causes  for  lack  of  percental  improvement.  The  teacher 
and  the  children  may  be  unable  to  make  large  improve- 
ments because  of  natural  obstacles  over  which  they 
have  no  control.  For  illustration,  the  improvement  in 
long  division  should  be  relatively  much  larger  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  grades  than  in  any  of  the  other  grades, 
the  natural  abilities  of  the  children  in  one  room  may  be 
greater  than  those  in  another,  etc.  If  these  comparisons 
are  made  too  often  and  are  stressed  very  much,  they  may 
lose  their  force.  The  ideal  way  is  to  use  them  but  to 
consider  that  they  are  only  one  small  factor  among  many 
others  in  the  improvement  of  school  work. 

(4)  Everyday  or  weekly  exhibits.  In  some  schools  a 
large  burlap  bulletin  board  is  hung  just  outside  the  door 
of  each  room.  Upon  this  are  posted  exhibits  of  good 
work  that  is  being  done  in  the  room.  Any  written  work, 
drawing,  or  clippings  of  interest  to  the  children  of  the 
room  may  be  pinned  to  the  burlap.  A  list  of  good  books 
that  have  been  read  by  one  or  by  several  children  may  be 
posted  here.  This  serves  to  give  the  children  of  other 
rooms,  the  teachers,  the  principal,  or  anyone  who  might 
pass  the  room  an  idea  of  some  of  the  important  projects 
that  are  being  stressed  in  the  room  at  that  time.  Such 


384      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

work  should  be  changed  at  regular  intervals,  and  as 
many  children  as  possible  should  be  represented  during 
the  year. 

The  effectiveness  of  any  of  these  four  measures  in 
bringing  about  larger  interests  and  better  work  will  de- 
pend upon  the  seriousness  and  tenacity  with  which  they 
are  undertaken.  Often  they  prove  very  useful  for  a 
few  weeks.  Then  they  are  neglected  by  both  teacher 
and  pupils  and  become  merely  a  form.  Such  schemes 
are  worthless  unless  someone  is  behind  them  to  breathe 
life  into  them. 

The  Socialization  of  the  Room 

Using  the  Natural  Advantages  of  a  Group.  When- 
ever a  group  of  persons  gathers,  a  situation  with  poten- 
tially high  educational  value  is  created.  The  problem  of 
the  teacher  is  to  realize  upon  the  natural  capital  which  the 
class  or  grade  system  provides. 

Some  of  these  advantages  may  be  used  as  follows : 

(1)  Each  child  should  be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  a  part 
of  a  distinct  social  group  to  which  he  must  be  loyal.  He 
can,  first  of  all,  be  loyal  only  if  he  is  doing  his  best  to 
make  a  good  record  for  his  room  in  the  regular  school 
work. 

(2)  As  a  part  of  the  group  which  makes  up  the  "room," 
each  child  should  be  interested  in  everything  that  is  going 
on  there.     As  citizens  of  this  special  group  he  and  his 
fellows  feel  responsible  for  the  success  of  the  room.     They 
stimulate  and  cooperate  with  each  other. 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  385 

Group  Loyalty.  As  an  illustration  of  the  power  of 
group  loyalty  when  applied  to  a  room,  an  experiment  in 
the  University  Heights  School,  Seattle,  Washington, 
might  be  cited.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  teacher 
gave  to  the  children  as  their  central  problem  the  develop- 
ment of  a  cooperative  and  helpful  spirit  in  the  room. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  the  principal  asked  for  a  report 
from  the  children.  In  it  they  were  to  tell  of  the  different 
ways  in  which  they  had  improved  during  the  year.  With- 
out special  attention  being  called  to  it  by  the  teacher 
every  paper  mentioned  "  loyalty  to  the  room."  One  of 
these  papers  is  given  here : 

University  Heights  School 
Oct.  31,  1917  Clarence  B  .  .  . 

Language,  Eighth  B. 
Dear  Mr.  Metsker : 

I  have  accomplished  quite  a  bit  in  this 

quarter,  but  I  have  not  accomplished  xenough.  The  greatest 
thing  I  think  I  have  accomplished  is  to  help  others  when  they 
need  help  and  to  be  loyal  to  the  room.  I  have  learned  how 
to  do  mental  arithmetic  which  will  be  a  great  help  to  everyone 


I  expect  to  become  better  in  everything  within  the  next 
quarter. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Organizing  a  Room.     In  organizing  a  room  of  children 

to  secure  cooperation  in  helping  everyone  in  the  group 

make  a  larger  success,  the  teacher  should  stress  the  fact 

that  what  is  being  required  and  what  is  being  accom- 

2c 


386       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

plished  are  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  group.  They  are  t< 
feel  responsible  for  it.  They  do  not  owe  it  to  the  teache 
to  succeed  in  their  work  or  to  do  their  best  in  accomplish 
ing  any  of  the  aims  of  the  work.  They  owe  it  to  th 
group.  Thus,  when  a  child  has  not  acted  as  he  shoulc 
on  the  playground,  in  passing  in  and  out  of  the  room,  o 
in  any  of  the  regular  work,  he  and  the  group  are  made  tc 
feel  that  he  has  not  been  loyal  to  them. 

Below  the  fifth  grade  such  a  situation  is  difficult  t< 
create.     In   the   grades   above  this   a  wise  teacher  wi] 
have  little  difficulty  in  making  large  use  of  such  a  scheme 
It  has  a  much  more  wholesome  effect  than  a  plan  whicl 
requires    the    teacher    to    carry    all    responsibility.       In 
work  of  this  nature  the  teacher  must  always  be  ready  tc 
step  in  and  prevent  group  action  from  injuring  any  in- 
dividual unduly,  or  from  bringing  about  what  would  not 
accord  with  the  ideals  of  the  school.     Such  a  scheme  must 
be  regarded  as  one  in  which  children  are  stimulated  to 
work  as  a  group  by  a  teacher  always  in  the  background. 
They  do   not   compose  an   "  independent   government." 
The  teacher  is  merely  using  their  growing  sense  of  loyalty 
in  educating  them.     In  developing  loyalty  children  are 
being  helped  as  much  as  they  are  by  ordinary  school 
"  subjects/'     An  eighth  grade  organized  to  solve  the  fol- 
lowing problems  for  the  year  : 

To  see  that  no  one  in  the  room  should  fail  to  be  pro- 
moted. 

To  come  into  and  out  of  the  school  in  good  order  without 
the  teacher  watching  them. 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  387 

To  keep  the  room  as  neat  as  possible  at  all  times  and 
to  make  it  more  beautiful. 

To  have  regular  meetings  one  hour  per  week  to  dis- 
cuss methods  of  doing  the  work  of  the  room  in  a  better 
way  and  to  consider  problems  which  may  arise  during  the 
week. 

Officers  should  be  chosen  by  the  class  rather  than  by 
the  teacher.  Their  terms  should  be  short,  and  the  teacher 
should  see  that  they  seriously  perform  their  duties. 

Morning  Exercises  for  the  Room  or  Grade.  Special 
exercises  within  each  room  are  just  as  important  as  the 
assemblies  for  the  entire  school,  which  have  been  described 
earlier  in  this  chapter.  Regular  morning  exercises  at 
least  two  times  each  week  in  which  children  and  teacher 
cooperate  to  do  something  of  value  will  be  a  big  aid  in 
socializing  the  room.  In  schools  which  do  not  have  rooms 
large  enough  for  general  assemblies  such  exercises  are 
still  possible  for  each  room.  Even  when  there  are  regu- 
lar assemblies  of  the  entire  school,  each  room  should 
have  its  own  regular  morning  exercises.  The  essential 
points  in  properly  developing  these  exercises  for  social- 
izing advantages  are : 

(1)  The  children  must  be  made  to  feel  that  they'  are 
managing  this  period.     The  teacher  is  their  adviser. 

(2)  Every  pupil   in   the   room   should    regularly   take 
part  in  the  programs  in  order  that  each  may  have  his 
turn  at  appearing  before  his  fellows.     No  child  should 
develop   the  attitude  of  a   spectator.     Each  must   feel 
that  he  is  a  part  of  the  organization. 


388       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

(3)  The  regular  work  of  the  room  should  play  a  large 
part  in  the  programs. 

The  city  of  Indianapolis  publishes  for  its  teachers  the 
following  list  of  books  which  furnish  materials  and 
suggestions  for  this  work.  They  are  most  valuable 
in  the  lower  grades  where  the  teacher  should  play  the 
leading  role. 

BOOKS  HELPFUL  FOR  OPENING  EXERCISES 

Baldwin,  James :  American  Book  of  Golden  Deeds. 

Bailey,  Carolyn,  and  Lewis,  Clara  M. :  For  the  Children's 
Hour. 

Bryant,  Sara  Cone :  Best  Stories  to  Tell  Children. 

How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children. 

Bees,on,  Katherine  :  The  Child's  Calendar  Beautiful. 

Bellamy  and  Goodwin:    Open  Sesame. 

Cabot,  Ella  Lyman  :   Ethics  for  Children, 
i      Cbe,  Fanny  :  The  Louisa  Alcott  Story  Bpok. 

Comegys*:  Primer  of  Ethics.  ''i 

Coates  :   Children's  Book  of  Poetry. 

Everett,  C;>  E. :  Ethics  for  Young  People. 

Firth,  Abrsftiain.:   Voices  df  the  Speechless.      <"•— » 

Gow :  Good  Morals  alid  Gentle  Manners. 

Harrison,  Elizabeth  :   In  Storyland. 

Johonnot,  James :  Stories  of  Heroic  Deeds. 

Lewis,  Prudence  :  The  Golden  Hour 

Lindsay,  Maud  :  Mother  Stories. 

More  Mother  Stories. 

Lambert,  W.  H. :  Memory  Gems  in  Prose  and  Poetry. 

Marden,  O.  S. :   Success. 

Winning  Out. 

McMurry,  Lida  B. :   Classic  Stories  for  Little  Ones. 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  389 

Poulsson,  E. :  In  the  Child's  World. 

Bible  Stories. 
Spyri :   Heidi 

Sneath,  Hodges,  Stevens :   The  Golden  Rule  Series. 
Seelye,  Julius  H. :   Duty. 
Smiles,  Samuel :  Character. 
Self  Help. 
Duty. 

Wiggin,  Kate  D.,  and  Smith,  N.  A. :  The  Story  Hour. 

The  Posy  Ring. 
Golden  Numbers. 
Yonge,  Charlotte :   Golden  Deeds. 

The  Socialized  Recitation 

Characteristics  and  Purposes.  The  socialized  recita- 
tion is  characterized  by  the  large  amount  of  activity  by 
the  class  and  the  position  of  the  teacher  in  the  background 
rather  than  as  the  central  figure.  The  subject  matter  of 
the  lesson  is  so  planned  by  the  teacher  that  the  children 
take  it  up  in  a  natural  way  as  a  project  or  problem  which 
they  as  a  group  must  work  out.  A  great  deal  of  stress 
is  placed  upon  the  independence  and  initiative  of  the 
group.  The  chief  work  of  the  teacher,  therefore,  is  done 
outside  the  class  period.  He  is  a  stimulating  and  or- 
ganizing force  in  the  recitation,  rather  than  a  leader. 

The  purpose  is  to  train  children  to  work  together 
through  more  activity  on  their  part.  In  making  the 
recitation  less  formal  and  more  like  any  natural  gather- 
ing the  teacher  does  away  with  passivity.  In  its  place 
come  both  physical  and  mental  alertness  and  reaction. 
Originality  is  brought  into  play.  For  instead  of  listen- 


390      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

ing  to  their  teacher  or  striving  to  answer  a  question  in  a 
way  that  would  suit  the  teacher,  the  pupils  take  respon- 
sibility for  questioning  and  answering.  Another  child  is 
likely  to  point  out  a  pupil's  error  or  question  him  further. 
Thus,  responsibility  is  developed.  All  of  the  powers 
that  are  exercised  by  this  method  are  important  to  the 
development  of  the  child.  The  old  type  of  recitation 
tended  to  stifle  them. 

Limits  and  Special  Difficulties.  In  undertaking  social- 
ized recitations  the  teacher  of  to-day  has  the  mistakes 
and  successes  of  others  to  guide  him.  The  idea  has  had 
wide  application  with  varying  degrees  of  success.  Some 
mistakes  that  were  often  made  and  were  overcome  only 
by  experience  can  now  be  pointed  out  to  the  beginner. 

(1)  In  developing  larger  responsibility  and  more  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  the  children  the  teacher  should 
not  turn  the  class  over  to  a  "  bright  "  pupil  who  becomes 
a  sort  of  teacher.  (2)  He  should  not  allow  the  timid  or 
sluggish  child  to  withdraw  from  the  work  or  become  a 
mere  auditor,  but  every  means  should  be  used  to  bring 
such  children  to  the  front.  (3)  The  serious  work  of  the 
subject  matter  should  not  be  neglected,  or  any  sort  of 
pseudo-parliamentary  drill  be  allowed  to  become  the  end 
of  the  organization.  Recitations  are  socialized  in  order 
to  take  better  care  of  regular  school  work,  not  to  take 
its  place.  (4)  In  all  of  the  work  the  teacher  is  a  con- 
stant factor.  The  children  should  realize  that  the.  free- 
dom of  the  new  order  is  theirs  only  if  they  use  it 
wisely.  They  should  feel  that  the  teacher  is  always  ready 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  391 


to  help  them.  When  the  work  is  well  carried  out,  one  of 
the  chief  successes  is  that  the  children  come  to  the  teacher 
fpr  help  and  suggestions  rather  than  wait  for  him  to 
start  each  new  discussion  or  to  "  call  "  upon  them  before 
they  recite. 

It  is  not  profitable  to  use  the  so-called  socialized  or- 
ganization in  every  recitation  and  all  the  subjects.  Its 
limit  is  reached  whenever  the  social  element  ceases  to  be 
a  stimulus  for  greater  effort  on  the  part  of  each  individual 
or  when  cooperation  is  not  as  profitable  as  individual 
effort.  With  these  two  principles  in  mind  it  can  readily 
be  seen  that  well-designed  socialization  in  a  few  subjects, 
focused  upon  vital  elements,  will  be  more  profitable  than 
an  attempt  to  bring  the  social  motive  into  everything. 
Time  must  be  given  the  individual  to  study  and  to 
become  independent.  As  in  any  other  social  work,  in- 
terest, charm,  and  effectiveness  depend  upon  wise  appli- 
cation of  the  social  motive  to  vital  issues  at  the  right 
time. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  :  Sixth-grade  history. 

The  Colonial  Period.  The  teacher  allowed  the  children  to 
discuss  each  new  lesson  and  choose  the  topics  for  the  next  day. 
However,  she  saw  that  the  discussion  was  limited  to  proper 
topics  and  that  only  those  which  were  worth  while  were  voted 
upon.  Being  allowed  to  select  their  own  work  proved  a  de- 
cided stimulus  to  begin  with.  Often  the  discussion  of  the 
assignment  made  a  very  valuable  and  vital  part  of  the  recita- 
tion. 

In  addition  to  a  few  general  topics,  the  assignment  usually 
consisted  of  special  topics  upon  which  different  individuals 


392       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

volunteered  to  report  to  the  class.  Each  of  these  reports 
was  socially  valuable  because  the  child  who  made  it  brought 
information  which  the  group  desired  and  made  a  distinct 
contribution.  The  class  had  not  prepared  a  lesson  on  the 
special  topic  and,  therefore,  did  not  know  what  the  one  who 
made  the  report  was  to  tell.  It  is  important  that  subjects 
that  are  both  vital  historically  and  interesting  to  the  class  be 
selected  for  these  reports. 

Each  report  was  followed  by  a  discussion  in  which  any 
child  might  take  part. 

Fifth-grade  geography. 

The  teacher  announced  that  the  children  might  conduct 
their  own  recitations.  The  plan  decided  upon  was  as  follows : 
The  teacher  and  the  class  would  choose  a  number  of  topics 
for  the  next  day.  The  teacher  called  upon  the  first  child. 
After  his  recitation  anyone  who  had  anything  to  add  would 
stand.  The  last  one  to  speak  called  upon  another  child  to 
discuss  another  topic.  The  teacher  kept  in  the  background 
but  was  responsible.  She  saw  that  no  " cliques"  were  formed, 
that  the  discussions  were  kept  on  a  high  plane,  and  that  the 
slow  children  were  given  due  part. 

Eighth-grade  literature. 

The  class  was  reading  Ivanhoe  and  formed  a  Walter  Scott 
Club.  At  each  recitation  the  officers  presided.  They  read 
and  discussed  a  regular  portion  of  Ivanhoe  as  a  regular  part 
of  each  meeting.  This  was  followed  by  stories  from  the  life 
of  Scott  and  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  Other  books  written 
by  Scott  were  read  and  reported  by  different  members  of  the 
Club.  This  class  was  conducted  by  an  inexperienced  practice 
teacher.  The  high  interest,  ground  covered,  and  the  pene- 
tration revealed  in  the  discussions  could  not  have  been  equaled 
in  an  ordinary  question  and  answer  recitation.  The  teacher 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  393 

found  it  necessary  to  know  much  more  about  Scott  and  his 
writings  than  she  would  have  needed  to  conduct  ordinary 
recitations.  The  members  of  the  Walter  Scott  Club  were 
well  informed  upon  their  " favorite"  author  before  the  end 
of  the  term. 

Illustrations  of  Socialization  Involving  Competition 

Seventh-grade  history. 

In  the  assignment  the  teacher  asked  the  class  to  discuss 
the  problem  or  problems  they  should  consider  for  the  next 
day.  Each  child  was  asked  to  look  over  the  headings  of  the 
text  and  to  contribute  whatever  he  could  to  the  discussion. 
They  were  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  and  the  problem 
or  project  that  was  finally  decided  upon  for  investigation 
and  discussion  for  the  next  day  was  "The  comparative  strength 
of  the  two  sections."  With  the  help  of  the  teacher  they 
divided  the  larger  topic  into  five  divisions.  There  were  five 
rows  and  each  row  was  to  be  responsible  for  a  division.  The 
divisions  of  the  topic  were : 

Comparative  populations,  including  numbers,  capacity 
for  war,  etc. 

Agricultural  resources,  the  crops  of  the  two  sections,  their 
values,  etc. 

Locations  of  the  chief  cities  and  the  plans  of  the  opposing 
forces. 

The  arguments  with  which  each  side  defended  its  ideas; 
their  beliefs  in  success. 

The  problems  confronting  the  government  as  compared 
with  those  of  to-day. 

At  the  end  of  the  discussion  the  room  was  allowed  to  vote 
on  which  row  did  the  best. 

This  type  of  lesson  was  taken  up  each  Friday  during  a  term. 
The  assignment  was  made  a  week  ahead  and  the  different 


394       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

rows  employed  their  spare  time  in  looking  up  material.  The 
rows  were  scored  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  the  scoring  being  done  by  secret 
ballot  following  a  ten-minute  discussion  in  which  different 
members  of  the  class  suggested  scores  for  the  different  rows 
by  noting  the  vitality  of  their  discussions.  This  ten  minutes 
became  a  very  interesting  and  profitable  part  of  the  work. 
A  sixty-minute  hour  was  given  over  to  this  work  and  each  row 
was  allowed  ten  minutes.  The  assignment  was  usually  a  vital 
issue  which  had  been  already  taken  up.  It  served  as  a  review 
as  well  as  a  special  means  of  emphasizing  the  more  valuable 
parts  of  the  work. 

Eighth-grade  history. 

Two  leaders  were  elected  by  the  class.  They  chose  sides. 
Each  Friday  they  took  opposite  sides  of  the  room  and  the 
members  of  each  side  asked  those  of  the  other  side  questions 
from  the  work  of  the  week.  They  regarded  themselves  as 
camps  of  opposing  armies,  and  when  a  question  was  asked 
which  the  opponent  could  not  answer,  he  was  " killed"  for 
that  "battle."  The  two  sides  organized  and  " trained"  for 
each  battle.  Every  soldier  was  considered  to  have  the  same 
value  as  every  other.  Thus,  the  problem  became  one  of 
having  everyone  prepared. 

The  children  who  took  part  in  this  work  soon  developed  a 
high  interest.  The  teacher  instructed  them  to  ask  vital 
questions  which  would  require  organization,  rather  than  catch 
questions.  When  a  catch  question  was  asked,  the  child 
who  was  called  upon  could  appeal  to  the  teacher  or  "  umpire, " 
and  if  the  teacher  decided  that  it  was  unimportant  and  purely 
mechanical,  the  question  was  considered  answered. 

This  last  feature  was  the  part  that  made  the  work  vital  in 
developing  the  subject  matter  and  the  abilities  of  the  children. 
Too  often  this  kind  of  work  is  merely  a  contest  on  a  low  plane, 
because  the  teacher  does  nothing  to  elevate  it. 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  395 

More  complex  schemes  of  socialization  in  which  an 
entire  unit  of  subject  matter  is  organized  and  worked 
out  by  a  class  may  often  be  employed  to  advantage.  In 
civics,  for  example,  the  class  studies  the  home  city  by 
organizing  as  a  city  government.  They  hold  an  election 
and  elect,  according  to  regular  form,  a  mayor  and  coun- 
cil ;  these  appoint  the  remaining  city  officers  as  police 
force,  water  inspectors,  firemen  (or  fire  chief).  Each 
lesson  is  a  meeting  of  this  government  in  which  the  dif- 
ferent needs  of  the  city  and  the  duties  of  the  different 
officers  are  discussed.  If  properly  managed,  such  a 
scheme  will  lead  to  wide  reading  and  investigation.  A 
great  deal  of  variety  and  vital  subject  matter  may  be 
added  by  allowing  recalls,  impeachments,  and  attacks 
upon  different  officers  for  not  doing  their  duties.  In 
all  such  cases  the  teacher  should  require  that  the 
legal  requirements  be  met  with.  This  furnishes  valu- 
able subject  matter  that  is  functional  as  well  as  requir- 
ing worthy  effort  on  the  part  of  the  children.  The 
teacher  usually  finds  that  he  must  work  hard  to  keep 
up  with  a  live  class  the  first  time  he  tries  such  an 
organization. 

In  arithmetic  a  class  may  study  stocks  and  bonds  by 
organizing  as  a  corporation.  In  order  to  operate  they 
become  acquainted  with  the  issuing  of  stock  and  its  dif- 
ferent forms  of  sale.  They  learn  to  solve  problems  in- 
volving the  different  features  of  the  corporation.  In  an 
oil  region  they  may  incorporate  as  an  oil  company.  In 
another  place  they  may  organize  as  a  banking  corporation 


396       MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

or  as  a  trust.  When  properly  managed,  such  work 
furnishes  splendid  educational  opportunities. 

Selecting  Subject  Matter  of  Social  Value 

Relating   the    Course    of   Study   to   the    Community. 

One  of  the  best  ways  of  vitalizing  an  ordinary  course  of 
study  is  to  localize  it.  When  properly  socialized  by 
being  related  to  the  social  life  of  the  special  communities 
in  which  it  is  used,  a  course  of  study  loses  most  of  its 
deadness.  In  all  the  subjects  of  the  elementary  school 
curriculum  it  is  possible  to  find  connections  with  the 
life  of  the  community. 

In  arithmetic  the  usual  course  of  study  demands  that 
the  children  master  to  a  certain  extent  the  four  funda- 
mentals, common  fractions,  decimals,  percentage,  interest, 
and  simple  mensuration.  In  every  community  there  is 
constant  use  being  made  of  the  essential  elements  of 
these  topics.  In  the  buying  and  selling  transactions  of  the 
local  hardware,  dry  goods,  and  grocery  stores,  necessity 
for  the  use  of  all  of  them  is  found  almost  daily.  The 
local  banks,  the  county  and  city  offices,  and  the  local 
contractors,  mechanics,  and  carpenters  are  constantly 
meeting  all  the  different  types  of  examples  that  are 
given  in  a  modern  textbook. 

The  teacher  can  make  capital  of  this  social  situation 
by  using  now  and  then  some  of  these  life  problems.  A 
local  bank,  the  clerks  of  a  store,  or  local  mechanics  can 
furnish,  after  a  few  days'  observation,  hundreds  of  such 
problems.  These  are  often  made  much  more  interest- 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  397 

ing  and  vital  by  selecting  special  problems  which  have 
caused  trouble  for  persons  in  the  community.  Such  a 
scheme  has  been  used  with  success  in  some  of  the  ele- 
mentary schools  of  Seattle,  Washington.  The  following 
problems  are  typical : 

(1)  Mr.  (name  of  local  merchant)  sold  the  following  bills 
of  groceries  last  week.     The  teacher  had  the  actual  bills  from 
which  she  dictated  the  exercise  in  addition.     In  the  modern 
file  system  the  bills  are  usually  destroyed  after  a  customer 
pays  them,  and  a  merchant  will  usually  be  glad  to  save  a  set 
of  them  for  a  teacher. 

(2)  At  the  First  National  Bank  the  following  notes  were 
due  yesterday.     A  half  dozen  such  notes  are  assigned  for  the 
day's  lesson  in  interest.     A  banker  who  knows  the  teacher  is 
usually  willing  to  tabulate  a  few  such  transactions  without 
giving  the  names  of  the  borrowers. 

(3)  Mr.  (local  contractor)  is  building  a  house  at  3547  17th 
Ave.     The  following  are  some  of  the  problems  he  must  solve. 
The  actual  problems  are  assigned  for  a  lesson  in  mensuration. 

Problems  involving  special  social  situations : 

(1)  Miss  (local  clerk)   during  the  last  month  found  that 
persons  in  this  locality  often  know  little  about  transactions 
involving   fractions.     In    selling    dry   goods    she   found    that 
customers  demanded  the  wrong  change  in  the  following  prob- 
lems.    Can  you  solve  them  ? 

Any  clerk  can  soon  collect  a  good  list  of  interesting  and 
often  humorous  incidents  of  this  type. 

(2)  At  the  .  .  .  grocery   store   the   following  mistakes  in 
making  change  were  made  by  customers  last  week.     Can  you 
correct  them? 

(3)  Local  automobile  firm  sold  eight  cars  on  the  install- 
ment plan  last  week.     They  were  sold  under  the  following 


398      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

contracts,  involving  payment  as  stated.  What  is  the  interest 
in  each  case  ?  What  is  the  best  way  of  calculating  this  interest  ? 
(4)  A  few  years  ago  Mr.  (local  person)  bought  a  house  on 
the  installment  plan  and  was  told  that  he  was  to  pay  seven 
per  cent  interest.  After  he  had  signed  his  contract,  the  com- 
pany inserted  eight  per  cent  instead  of  seven  per  cent.  He 
paid  $15.00  per  month  until  he  had  settled  his  debt  of  $1000.00. 
How  much  more  did  he  have  to  pay  than  he  had  expected  to? 

Such  problems  are  vital  only  if  not  used  to  excess. 
There  is  no  question  about  their  good  influence  in  mak- 
ing the  course  of  study  appear  more  alive  and  useful  to 
the  children  if  they  are  wisely  chosen  and  used  at  psy- 
chological moments.  Work  of  this  type  will  place  the 
arithmetic  upon  a  higher  plane,  bring  the  children  into 
contact  with  its  values,  and  make  it  a  more  interesting 
study.1 

In  geography  local  conditions  should  constantly  be  used 
for  comparisons.  Every  new  step  that  is  taken  in  this 
subject  should  be  related  to  the  community  in  which  the 
children  live.  The  following  questions  on  France  illus- 
trate this : 

An  introductory  lesson. 

In  what  direction  and  approximately  how  far  is  France 
from  here  ? 

How  large  is  France  when  compared  to  the  U.  S.?  Our 
own  state  ? 

How  is  our  government  like  that  of  France?  How  dif- 
ferent? 

1  It  should  not  go  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  train  children  in  all  the  mathe- 
matics of  the  different  occupations. 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION          399 

Name  a  number  of  articles  in  this  community  that  came 
from  France. 

How  many  of  you  are  of  French  descent?  Do  you  know 
anyone  in  this  community  who  is  French?  Anyone  who 
came  directly  from  France  ? 

Are  there  any  products  of  this  community  that  are  likely 
to  be  shipped  to  France? 

If  you  read  the  daily  papers,  please  note  anything  you  see 
about  France  in  them  and  mention  it  in  class. 

Assignment  for  to-morrow :  A  woman  who  used  to  live  in 
France  and  who  is  now  a  citizen  of  our  town  will  talk  to  you 
about  France.  Be  ready  to  ask  her  several  questions.  You 
will  be  judged  by  the  intelligence  and  ability  you  show  in  the 
questions  you  ask. 

These  questions  are  a  few  of  a  large  number  that  were 
used  to  relate  the  geography  of  France  to  that  of  the 
local  community.  In  the  introductory  lesson  the  children 
were,  of  course,  unable  to  answer  them  in  a  very  satis- 
factory manner.  However,  these  questions  and  others 
like  them  made  up  a  constant  background  for  every  les- 
son, and  before  the  unit  of  subject  matter  was  com- 
pleted the  children  knew  France,  not  as  a  distant  coun- 
try soon  to  be  forgotten,  but  through  living  evidence  in 
their  own  community  and  in  relation  to  things  going 
on  around  them  every  day.  They  read  their  text  and 
reference  books  with  specific  purposes,  and  the  subject 
matter  was  mastered  in  a  way  that  could  not  have  been 
brought  about  by  ordinary  assignments  and  discussions. 

In  written  and  oral  English  the  community  can  be 
drawn  upon  for  the  subject  matter  expressed.  When  a 


400      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   PRACTICE 

child  has  learned  to  see,  hear,  and  feel  the  life  and  ob- 
jects of  his  own  community  and  is  able  to  express  himself 
effectively  in  regard  to  them,  his  education  in  English  is 
near  completion.  To  be  able  to  understand  and  express 
in  clear  and  interesting  language  that  which  he  observes 
is  the  goal  of  all  the  child's  efforts  in  the  subject  of  Eng- 
lish. 

History  must  be  vitalized  in  the  same  way.  No  mat- 
ter what  history  the  course  of  study  calls  for,  it  will  be 
appreciated  more  and  remembered  better  if  related  to 
and  compared  with  events  that  are  going  on  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  and  which  affect  the  community  in  which  the 
children  live.  The  following  questions  on  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  for  example,  may  serve  as  a  background 
and  a  constant  aid  in  the  study  of  this  phase  of  American 
History : 

How  large  was  our  country  at  that  time  compared  to  its 
present  size?  In  population?  In  territory?  In  wealth? 

How  much  longer  did  it  take  to  cross  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
than  now  ?  How  did  this  affect  the  war  ? 

What  means  of  transportation  did  they  have?  How  much 
longer  did  it  take  to  travel  fifty  miles  than  it  does  now? 

How  was  clothing  supplied  to  the  soldiers  at  that  time? 
How  is  it  supplied  now? 

If  England  had  won  the  war,  what  difference  would  it  make 
to  us  now?  (This  question  may  be  made  very  important 
if  the  teachers  care  to  develop  it  in  detail.) 

What  do  we  owe  to-day  to  the  ideals  of  our  forefathers  who 
waged  the  Revolutionary  War  and  established  the  principles 
of  our  government?  (A  question  well  worth  working  out  at 


THE    SOCIALIZATION   OF   INSTRUCTION  401 

the  expense  of  many  of  the  detailed  accounts  of  battles  and 
campaigns.) 

How  does  the  present  British  nation  differ  from  the  Britain 
which  fought  us  at  that  time  ?  (In  order  to  form  the  proper 
attitude  toward  present  British  relations  with  us  this  is  an 
important  question.) 

Nature  study,  civics,  and  hygiene  are  three  subjects 
which  may  be  made  to  take  a  regular  part  in  the  child's 
social  life.  He  must  learn  to  control  and  appreciate  the 
nature  that  is  around  him.  He  must  learn  of  the  govern- 
ment of  his  community  and  constantly  feel  that  every- 
thing else  he  learns  about  government  should  be  applied 
to  his  own  social  existence.  He  must  learn  of  health  in 
order  to  apply  it  to  his  own  living ;  to  keep  his  home  clean 
and  his  body  healthy  in  order  to  be  a  better  citizen  and 
not  a  menace  to  others. 

Closer  Relation  between  the  Home  and  the  School 

A  Plan  to  Care  for  Visitors.  Both  the  school  and  the 
home  are  busy  institutions.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
principal  and  teachers  have  a  great  deal  to  do.  Also  no 
one  of  intelligence  questions  the  many  duties  and  bur- 
dens of  fathers  and  mothers.  The  school  must  face 
the  problem  of  linking  these  two  institutions  together 
for  mutual  advantage.  Every  school  should  have  its 
organization  to  meet  and  care  for  visitors.  By  merely 
telling  the  parents  that  he  is  glad  to  see  them  and  would 
like  to  have  them  visit  as  often  as  possible,  a  teacher  is 
not  likely  to  enlarge  his  list  of  visitors.  There  must  be 

2D 


402      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

some  definite  plan  for  taking  care  of  visitors.     The  fol- 
lowing incident  will  illustrate  this  : 

A  certain  school  was  trying  to  become  a  larger  factor 
in  the  community  and  to  be  as  helpful  as  possible  to 
parents.  The  principal  was  especially  eager  that  parents 
visit  the  school  so  that  he  could  learn  of  their  ideals  for 
their  children  and  at  the  same  time  drop  hints  which  might 
bring  about  better  home  opportunities.  A  mother  visited 
his  school  at  a  time  when  the  principal  was  busy.  He  did 
not  know  she  was  there.  It  being  her  first  visit,  she  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  The  vice-principal  and  several 
teachers  passed  her  as  she  was  sitting  in  an  anteroom, 
but  they  seemed  too  busy  to  notice  her.  She  waited  a 
couple  of  hours.  Then,  feeling  very  much  out  of  place, 
she  decided  to  go  home.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  she 
never  returned. 

In  a  large  school  this  problem  is  often  solved  by  in- 
structing those  who  frequent  the  office  to  be  sure  to 
approach  any  person  who  enters  and  inquire  what  he  has 
come  for.  In  case  the  visitor  is  a  parent  of  one  of  the 
children  in  the  school,  all  ordinary  office  work  should  be 
suspended  for  the  moment  and  the  greatest  courtesy 
shown  him.  In  a  smaller  school  the  children  should  be 
instructed  to  be  courteous  and  helpful  to  all  visitors,  so 
that  if  a  child  should  meet  a  father  or  mother  in  the 
hall,  he  should  take  the  time  and  the  pains  to  assist  the 
visitor  in  the  same  way  that  he  would  show  hospitality 
in  his  own  home. 

A  teacher  should  feel  that  whenever  a  parent  visits 


THE   SOCIALIZATION   OF  INSTRUCTION  403 

he  is  under  obligation  to  the  same  extent  that  he  is  to 
the  child.  He  has  an  opportunity  to  help  the  child 
much  more  than  he  can  by  ordinary  recitation  and  as- 
signments if  he  will  make  the  parent  sympathize  with 
and  understand  the  needs  of  the  child.  He  can  also 
learn  things  about  the  parent  and  home  life  which  will 
make  his  instruction  more  effective.  He  should  leave 
no  stone  unturned  to  make  his  visitor  feel  welcome,  profit 
by  his  visit,  and  resolve  to  come  again. 

Visiting  Days.  Visiting  school  may  be  made  a  social 
occasion  just  as  are  visiting  the  circus  or  the  moving  picture. 
If  a  visiting  day  is  announced  and  social  means  are  used 
to  get  the  parents  to  come  on  this  day,  many  of  them 
will  start  the  habit  of  coming  to  the  school.  They  will 
talk  about  their  visits  to  other  parents  and  an  attitude 
of  sympathy  toward  what  is  going  on  there  may  be  de- 
veloped. Of  course,  the  attitude  that  the  parents  take 
towards  the  school  will  depend  upon  what  they  see  there, 
how  it  is  interpreted  to  them,  and  how  they  are  treated. 
To  manage  a  visiting  day  properly  requires  a  great  deal 
of  intuition,  common  sense,  and  planning.  There  must 
be  both  special  and  regular  work.  At  least  one  or  two 
regular  lessons  should  be  given.  Then  there  should  al- 
ways be  special  programs.  A  contest  between  the  dif- 
ferent rooms  to  see  which  one  can  get  the  largest  per- 
centage of  mothers  to  attend  will  add  interest  and  get 
results.  The  children  should  be  stimulated  to  get  their 
mothers  to  attend.  It  is  often  worth  while  to  send  an  in- 
vitation to  each  mother. 


404      MODERN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL  PRACTICE 

In  initiating  such  a  plan  a  school  should  not  expect 
any  large  success  at  first.  The  visiting  day  must  be 
made  a  regular  feature  of  the  school  work  just  as  much 
as  are  the  report  cards.  If  a  mother  can  be  induced  to 
come  to  the  school,  the  results  are  likely  to  be  larger  in 
the  way  of  cooperation  than  the  report  card  will  obtain. 

Parent  associations  are  also  vital  and  valuable  features 
of  cooperation  when  wisely  managed.  Their  proper  man- 
agement depends  upon  local  conditions. 


INDEX 


Abstract  association,  207. 

Accuracy,  236. 

Adult  guidance,  101. 

Agassiz,  49. 

Alderman,  L.  R.,  66. 

Answer  books,  245. 

Aquarium,  371. 

Arithmetic,  94 ;  age  to  begin,  281 ; 
accuracy  in,  235,  243  ;  a  mechanical 
subject,  29  ff. ;  individual  needs  in, 
356 ;  assignments  in,  244 ;  based 
upon  growth,  241  ff. ;  business  trans- 
actions in,  237  ff. ;  community 
problems  in,  35  ff. ;  disciplinary 
value  of,  241 ;  drill  in,  30 ;  function 
of,  236  ff. ;  individual  methods  in, 
350;  lack  of  use  of,  32  ff. ;  life 
problems  in,  31  ff. ;  less  sedentary 
methods  in,  300;  motive  in,  78; 
problem  method  in,  29  ff. ;  sociali- 
zation in,  331  ff.,  397 ;  value  of,  30. 

Arrested  development  in  arithmetic, 
276  ff . ;  in  geography,  275. 

Assignment,  in  arithmetic,  244 ; 
flexible,  355;  individual,  356; 
longer,  46 ;  mechanical,  16 ;  prob- 
lem, 16. 

Audubon,  50. 

Ayres  scale,  83. 


Bright  child,  the,  18. 
Burk,  Frederick,  365. 
Business       transactions       in 
metic,  237  ff. 


arith- 


Civics,  out-of-doors,  311 ;  projects 
in,  47  ;  socialization  of,  395. 

Collection  interest,  175  ff . ;  as  a 
motive,  181 ;  educational  values  of, 
178  ff. ;  in  geography,  185 ;  in 
history,  186 ;  in  nature  study,  186 ; 
significance  of,  177  ff . ;  to  be  dis- 
couraged, 187. 


Competition,  329. 
Concrete  teaching,  207. 
Construction,  175. 
Cooperation,  329  ;   of  rooms,  381  S. 
Cope,  Edward  Drinker,  50. 
Correcting  papers,  245. 
Credit  for  home  work,  64  ff . 
Culture  and  recreation,  200  ff. 

Decimals,  239,  246. 

Dramatic  interest,  Ch.  VII ;  and 
entertainments,  163  ff. ;  in  English, 
154  ff. ;  in  history,  144  ff. ;  in 
hygiene,  165 ;  misuse  of,  144  ff. ; 
use  of,  142  ff. 

Early  development  of  children,  267  ff . 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  131. 

English,  children's  mistakes  in,  229  ; 
dramatization  in,  154 ;  function  of, 
213;  interests  in,  Ch.  VI;  interest 
in  oral,  126 ;  interest  in  story 
telling,  127 ;  interest  in  themes, 
123 ;  mechanical  demons  of,  234 ; 
mechanics  of,  223 ;  oral,  213  ff., 
224,  226,  228 ;  outline  of  functional, 
218 ;  selection  in,  Ch.  X ;  sociali- 
zation of,  392 ;  written,  215  ff.,  224, 
226,  228. 

Entertainments,  163. 

Evaluation,  198  ff. 

Exhibits,  73. 

Failures  in  school,  208. 

Fluctuations  in  pupils'  work,  209  ff . 

Formal  discipline,  241  ff. 

Fractions,  239,  246. 

Francis  Parker  School,  5,  97,  142,  335, 

372. 

Froebel,  141. 
Function   of   school   subjects,    199  ff. ; 

of  spelling,  246;    of  writing,  262. 


405 


406 


INDEX 


Geography,  95;  arrested  development 
in,  275;  collections  in,  185;  com- 
parative temperatures,  27 ;  taught 
out-of-doors,  308  ff. ;  problem 
method  in,  23  ff. ;  projects  in,  59, 
61 ;  rainfall  and  heat  reports,  28 ; 
selection  of  facts  to  teach,  190, 
191  ff.,  202;  socialization  in,  398, 
392. 

Great  men,  projects  of,  49  ff. 

Group  loyalty,  385. 

Growth,  arithmetic  based  upon,  241 ; 
as  a  factor  in  learning,  208,  222  ff. ; 
course  of  study  adjusted  to,  224. 

Hall.  G.  S.,  142. 

Health  methods,  Ch.  XII ;  aims  of, 
199  ff.,  201 ;  and  early  effort,  205  ff. ; 
and  home  study,  276  ;  and  precocity, 
267  ;  arrested  development,  274  ff. ; 
in  arithmetic,  279  ff. ;  in  motor 
subjects,  282  ff. ;  in  reading,  284  ff. ; 
the  efficiency  of,  266 ;  popularity 
of,  267 ;  with  slow  children,  273  ff . 

History,  96,  203  ;  collections  in,  186 ; 
dramatizing,  144  ff. ;  flexible  assign- 
ment in,  356 ;  John  Smith  used  as 
an  illustration  in,  148 ;  as  taught 
out-of-doors,  311 ;  the  problem 
method  in,  39  ff . ;  projects  in,  46, 
57;  socialization  of,  391,  393,  394, 
400. 

Hofe,  George  D.  von,  45. 

Home  economics,  96 ;  illustration  of  a 
common  incorrect  method  in,  41 ; 
the  problem  method  in,  38  ff. 

Home  projects,  63  ff. 

Home  study,  276  ff. 

Horace  Mann  School,  5,  45,  89,  91. 

Hygiene,  94,  165. 

Hypercritical  view,  196  ff. 

Illustrative  material,  22. 

Independence  of  children,  14. 

Indianapolis  schools,  98. 

Individual  differences,  assignments 
based  upon,  356 ;  illustrations  of, 
321 ;  in  school  subjects,  358;  recita- 
tion based  upon,  347 ;  requirements 
adjusted  to,  359 ;  methods  of  dis- 
covering, 342  ff . 


Individual  methods,  advantages  to 
children,  326;  factors  in,  334; 
use  in  assignments,  354  ff. ;  in  the 
recitation,  347  ff . ;  illustration  of 
their  use  in  Wichita,  Kans.,  343 ;  sav- 
ing money  for  the  community  by  the 
use  of,  324. 

Informal  attitude,  92 ;  in  arithmetic, 
302. 

Instincts,  96. 

Interests,  use  of,  in  teaching,  Chs.  V, 
VI,  VII,  VIII;  adult  guidance  of, 
101 ;  use  of,  as  a  standard,  107  ff. ; 
attitude  of  teacher  in  use  of,  99 ; 
definition  of,  8;  employment  of,  in 
hard  tasks,  105  ff. ;  in  English,  113, 
Ch.  VI ;  in  investigation,  141 ;  in 
opposite  sex,  141;  in  poetry,  114; 
in  school  subjects,  112  ff. 

Kankakee,  Illinois,  public  schools,  98. 

Laboratory  as  a  home  project,  50. 
Less  sedentary  methods,  in  arithmetic, 

300 ;   school  subjects  taught  by,  300 ; 

as  tried  with  feeble-minded  children, 

299. 

Mark  Twain,  his  attitude  towards  the 
school,  77. 

McMurry,  Frank,  95. 

Mechanics  of  learning,  10,  204 ;  in 
English,  223  ;  results  of  mechanical 
methods,  11. 

Mensuration,  240. 

Meumann,  Ernst,  204,  205. 

Modern  viewpoint,  6. 

Morning  exercises,  136,  375  ff.,  387; 
detailed  description  of,  376  ff. ;  illus- 
trations of,  379  ff. ;  books  on,  388. 

Motives,  75 ;  description  of,  7 ;  in 
arithmetic,  77  ff. ;  in  discipline, 

92  ff. ;   in  English,  84  ff. ;   in  reading, 
89  ff . ;      in     writing,     83  ff. ;      psy- 
chological    moments     as     motives, 

93  ff. 

Motor  subjects,  hygiene  of,  282  ff. 

Nature  study,  use  of  collections  in, 
186;  taught  out-of-doors,  311;  use 
of  projects  in  teaching,  62 ;  the 
child's  love  of  nature,  174. 


INDEX 


407 


Needs,    use    of    children's    needs    in 

teaching,  75  ff . 
Newspaper  as  a  project,  50. 
Noon  periods,  the  proper  length  of,  for 

health  of  children,  297  ff. 


Open-air  schools,  304. 

Order  of  topics  in  project,  47. 

Out-of-door  instruction,  for  healthy 
as  well  as  for  sick  children,  304 ; 
civics  taught  out-of-doors,  311;  in 
geography,  308;  in  history,  311; 
in  nature  study,  311 ;  need  of  more 
out-of-door  time  for  child,  303, 

Overlearning,  time  wasted  by,  211. 

Overrationalization,  13  ff. 

Painting  as  a  project,  70. 

Play,  96  ff . ;  its  part  in  the  curriculum, 
293  ff . ;  illustration  of  social  develop- 
ment from,  294. 

Poetry  for  children,  114ff. ;  composi- 
tion of ,  by  children,  119ff. ;  educa- 
tional values  of,  116;  list  of  books 
containing  child  poetry,  117;  read- 
ing and  memorizing  poetry,  116. 

Poor  spellers,  248. 

Practical  view  in  education,  1  ff. 

Practice  as  contrasted  with  theory 
and  experience,  3  ff. ;  modern  ideals 
as  applied  in  practice,  5  ff . 

Prizes  for  school  work,  74. 

Problem  method,  Ch.  II;  causes  of 
failure  at  times,  20;  contrasted 
with  topical  method,  42  ff . ;  develop- 
ment of  problem,  19 ;  illustrations 
of  problems,  16,  17,  19,  20;  prob- 
lems in  arithmetic,  29  ff . ;  in 
geography,  23  ff . ;  in  history,  37  ff. ; 
in  home  economics,  38  ff. ;  results 
of  problem  method,  1 1 ;  selection  of 
points  to  emphasize  in,  '  28  ff . ; 
illustrations  of  too  much  thought 
work,  12  ff . ;  what  to  do  when 
materials  are  lacking,  22;  how  to 
use  problems  with  ^  inexperienced 
classes,  21. 

Program,  hygiene  of  daily,  211; 
illustrations  of  hygienic"  programs, 
292. 


Projects,  Ch.  Ill;  as  used  in  the 
Horace  Mann  School,  45;  com- 
parison of  project  and  problem,  45; 
description  of  project,  7 ;  use  of,  in 
socialization,  369  ff. ;  home  proj- 
ects, 63  ff. ;  importance  of  project,  51 ; 
projects  in  civics,  47 ;  in  geography, 
46 ;  in  history,  46,  57 ;  in  mathe- 
matics, 46 ;  in  mechanics  and 
science,  54  ff . ;  in  nature  study, 
62 ;  in  woodwork,  54 ;  of  great 
men,  49 ;  order  of  topics  in  project, 
47 ;  reading  for  projects,  59 ;  the 
wide  scope  of  a  project,  52. 

Promotion,  the  modern  attitude 
towards,  362  ff . 

Psychological  moments,  use  of,  in 
teaching,  93. 

Questions  of  children,  14. 

Rational  memory,  15  ff. 

Reading,  beginning  of  interest  in,  135; 
good  taste  in,  134;  the  hygiene  of, 
284 ;  illustration  of  the  number  of 
books  a  child  may  read,  137 ;  im- 
portance of  habit  of  reading,  131 ; 
list  of  authors  for  children's  library, 
139 ;  length  of  hygienic  reading 
periods,  286 ;  the  proper  reading 
materials,  288;  motives  in  reading, 
89  ff . ;  oral  versus  silent,  226  ff . ; 
hygienic  position  in,  288 ;  protective 
reading  methods,  286;  age  when 
child  should  begin,  285. 

Reavis,  W.  C.,  331. 

Recitation,  inadequacy  of  ordinary 
type  of,  313 ;  individualization  of, 
347,  365 ;  more  extended  recitations 
by  pupils,  15ff. ;  the  number  of 
speeches  made  by  pupils  in,  347  ff. ; 
conducting  recitations  out-of-doors, 
312;  social-individual  reforms,  315; 
socialized,  389  ff. 

Red  Cross  projects  in  school,  53. 

Relaxation  periods,  292  ff . ;  increased 
efficiency  from,  296  ff. 

Requirements,  adjusted  to  individ- 
uals, 359 ;  in  the  common  branches, 
368. 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb,  129. 


408 


INDEX 


Rip    Van    Winkle,   dramatization    of, 

157  ff. 
Rules  for  spelling,  252  ff. 

Saving  .school  money  by  preventing 
failures,  324. 

School  furniture  which  is  healthful,  298. 

School-home  projects,  68  ff. ;  detailed 
illustration,  70 ;  method  of  conduct- 
ing, 69  ff . 

Scientific  collections,  181. 

Selection  of  subject  matter,  Ch.  IV ; 
hypercritical  view  of  school  subjects, 
196  ff . ;  the  valuable  points  in  geog- 
raphy, 190,  191  ff. ;  in  hygiene, 
190;  traditional  view  of  school 
subjects,  194  ff. ;  the  modern  atti- 
tude towards  school  work,  198  ff. 

Self-improvement  by  child,  79  ff. ;  in 
English,  86  ff. 

Smith,  John,  148. 

Social  aims  in  education,  200  ff. 

Social-Individual  balance,  Ch.  XIV. 

Social  interests  of  child,  141. 

Social  needs  as  met  by  the  school, 
336  ff. ;  failure  of  school  to  meet 
these  needs,  338  ff. 

Social  stimulation,  use  of,  in  school,  328. 

Socialization  of  instruction,  factors  in, 
368;  group  loyalty  in,  385; 
socialization  in  arithmetic,  397 ; 
in  geography,  398  ;  illustration  from 
Francis  Parker  School,  335-372; 
in  the  selection  of  subject  matter, 
396  ff. ;  interroom  interests,  381 ; 
morning  exercises  as  a  socializing 
factor,  375 ;  application  to  the 
recitation,  389  ff. ;  applied  to  the 
entire  school,  369  ff. ;  in  the  in- 
dividual rooms,  384. 

Special  classes  for  bright  or  retarded 
children,  364. 


Spelling  consciousness,  247 ;  function  of 
spelling,  247 ;  general  difficulties  in 
learning,  252,  254;  methods  of 
studying,  249  ;  use  of  rules  in,  252  ; 
lists  of  useful,  difficult  words,  256- 
262. 

Speyer  School,  142. 

Standards  in  education,  107;  in  the 
common  branches,  366. 

Surveys,  4 ;  of  projects  of  children, 
68  ff. 

Teacher,  as  inspirer  rather  than  leader, 

14 ;       developing     the      ability     to 

organize,  21. 
Technical  grammar,  235. 
Tenacity,    necessity    for,  in    realizing 

aims  of  modern  school,  80. 
Textbook,  proper  use  of,  18. 
Thackeray,  130.  132. 
Thrift  stamp  sales  in  school,  369. 
Topic  method  compared  to  problem, 

42  ff. 

Toys,  educational  value  of,  174. 
Traditional    influences    in    education, 

194  ff. 

Training  schools,  3. 
Triplett,  Norman,  328. 

Values,  weighed  by  children,   18. 
Visitors  at  school,  401  ff . ;   special  days 

for  visiting,  403. 
Vocational  aims  in  education,  200  ff. 

Weather,  problems  taken  from,  26. 
Wireless  telegraph  as  a  project,  48. 
Woodwork,  96. 

Words,  lists  of,  in  spelling,  256  ff. 
Writing,    factors    to    stress    in,    263 ; 

need  used  as  a  motive  for,  83 ;    the 

functional  value  of,  262. 


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